David / Math /Responsibility

Normally, I send an assignment for the week to David over the weekend. It includes sets of items for him to review online and/or worksheets. This past Sunday (after we'd had the boys for a more-or-less normal Saturday), we were going out of town - and I totally forgot to send anything.

Got an email this morning:

i did two of the three review items at the front of the review section.

one of them (interior/exterior angles) i couldn't do.

(What he was referring to was ALEKS' automatic putting out review items based on recent work.)

I was totally jazzed that he took the initiative to do some work absent an assignment! Especially in light of some recent, totally irresponsible and typical teenage behavior ...

And, YES, I acknowledged and praised the behavior!!

Aunt Lori

Aunt Lori was here on a short visit (my slightly younger sister) - and David was apparently quite taken with her. She lives near Ft. Lauderdale, and sent a shirt for him for Christmas one year that he's almost worn out. He was with some friends the other day and started talking about her. His mom reminded him, "You know, she's really your GREAT aunt."
"Really?" David responded, "But she's so YOUNG!!"

David

MATH
David sent me an email regarding a quiz I gave him (through ALEKS). He advised me, "I got ___%, which is x / y right. In fractional terms, x/y [fraction simplified]." [I left out the actual numbers on purpose.]

David has always found tests difficult; especially, timed tests. I started giving him quizzes in ALEKS (which are timed; but I set the time really long). He is doing better on these; and more importantly, seems less intimidated by the quiz function. I know many kids are test-phobic; this just seems a good way to get him used to the idea.

SOCIALIZATION
A really fabulous thing happened: someone from the home school group invited David and a couple of other kids over to play a role-playing game. David actually asked his mom not to stay, and he did OK. He's been invited back!

Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma

Yes the topic is Mikey. He was running around in the yard today, and said, "Let's Go!"

I said, "Where do you want to go, Mikey?"

He responded, "Ride the subway."

"And where are you going to ride to?"

"Balloon ride," he replied.

We often figure out later what Electric-Company-esque rationale exists with these notions, but I'm stumped right now ....

Football!

Background: I am from the Pittsburgh (PA) area. You Know What That Means, at least when it comes to football ...

Neither of the boys is big on sports. David takes karate lessons; neither of them is into any kind of ball sport; they do like to hike.

I am (see "Background") a Steelers fan. They boys were over the Saturday and Sunday of the last two playoff series games. I have a Terrible Towel, and made David wave it and yell, "Yea Steelers." (Also had to explain some of the game to him - no snickering at me, Siblings!!).

At the end of the evening (after the win over the Jets), David was on the phone with his mother, letting her know we were about to come home. She must have asked about the game; David said the Steelers had won. AND THEN he said:

THE STEELERS ARE THE ONLY REASON I WATCH FOOTBALL.

Go, David!  Grandma has succeeded in educating you well.

Christmas Card!

Yesterday, when the mail came, there was what was obviously a Christmas card - red envelope and all.

This one was different. The address took up the whole envelope, which was about 5" x 7". It was printed in pencil, and on three lines - literally. Three lines drawn - probably using  a ruler - across the envelope itself.

The stamp covered part of the adressee information. It was addressed to "Grandma Donna & [this part covered] Grandpa Marc." My heart skipped a beat.

The back had the return address of Mikey's school - 

Over the message on the inside were two more lines: "To Grandma Donna & Grandpa Marc." And under the message, two more ruler-drawn lines:

Love

Mikey

I cried.

A couple of random ....

Mikey continues to eat. For a snack, he ate: popcorn, pretzels (more on this), a mandarin orange, and pecans.

The pretzels were in a wooden bowl. There was also a new jar of peanut butter on the table. Turned my back for a few minutes, to find that Mikey had:

• Opened the peanut butter (I buy "natural" which separates)
• Poured the peanut oil onto the pretzels
• Was eating the pretzels (and peanut oil - yuck) with a spoon!!

(FYI he later had an enchilada plate AND a bean and cheese burrito, plus some cheese quesadilla I made, and an ice cream drumstick, for dinner.)

The boys help us with recycling. We take glass bottles, plastic containers and cans to a recycle center. They have to help us separate the cans and plastic into large bins, and the glass has to be sorted further into colors. The sorted materials are taken to the scale and weighed; our id is checked and we get a voucher for the material. We go to the cashier to get the cash. The boys then get a share.

Both boys have banks at our house; David has spent a lot of his (and Mikey almost none). Today David asked to go to the Japanese marketplace (indoors; we've had rain for days now). Grandpa asked if he planned to buy anything. He decided to take his money with him. I have it on good authority that he bought something for Mom. (Can't say what - she reads the blog ;-).