Lately there has been a huge importance placed on Early Childhood Education [wiki], ads on kids programs encouraging parents to read, special nights at schools, letters addressed to parents. All in the hopes that our kids start off on the right foot towards being successful in school.
My eldest son will be starting Kindergarten in September and had been out of preschool for the past year. I previously had him in a ‘parent participation preschool’ [ppp] but found the demands to be too great on a one parent household. I think parent participation schools are wonderful,in that the parents are what make the schools work. They the teacher’s helpers, the field trip organizers and the fundraisers (among countless other jobs). You become so familiar with the other families you become support network for each other. Not to mention we had FREE parent education sessions every month. In the long run however these schools are now being challenged because of the time required to be a part of a school like this and with most families now having 2 working parents it becomes nearly impossible to have a ‘duty’ parent available a few times a month.
I struggled to find him another French preschool but finally gave up hope and enrolled him in the ‘pre-kindergarten’ class at a nearby rec. centre. Today being the first day I dropped him off before work he kicked up quite the fuss even though he had really wanted to go to school. He clung to my leg and even shed a few tears. As any other parent would sympathize, I felt really guilty leaving him but knowing him his whole life I was confident he would settle right in. I then start to worry how he won’t be going to kindergarten next year with any of his new found playmates. After mentioning this to Becky online from work she said something along the lines of ‘it’s only preschool, who remembers preschool anyway?’
I myself was a preschool drop out and Becky never even went at all. We reminisced about when I did go to preschool and she reminded me of the scary marionettes. All I can remember is a girl that always smelled as though she had soiled herself and really wanting to be next in line to paint but couldn’t handle standing behind her any longer and thus giving up and playing something else. I wonder what memories people have of preschool? Was it a valuable experience? Do you still know anyone from preschool?
Aside from losing the “g” on my work laptop, things around the office have been pretty uneventful lately. Gus’ conversation with Dell support about the “g” that keeps popping off on me was rather amusing but aside from that, it’s business as usual.
It’s before one of our big seasons and there are no stat holidays for another 2 months, nothing will be much fun until the spring now. Something that keeps me going in the mornings is getting to work and plugging in my iPod. Well okay, the music AND a ginormous coffee help me survive the mornings. Usually I just plug it in, open the playlist I was just listening to on my way to work, and continue on from there. I turn my speakers down and find peace in the ambiance I’ve created for myself.
I don’t play my music too loud, I’ve actually turned on my tunes and walked around the newsroom just to see how much of it I can hear from where, and I think I’ve found a pretty good level. Yeah, I’m a dork. The only thing is, what happens when that one kick ass song comes on that I want to CRANK? Do I turn it up a little more for others to hear or do I keep it to myself? These are the current, unspoken, office music rules at my work
Only one person may play music at a time
You can listen to music as long as no one else can hear it
If someone asks you to turn it up that only means that one person would like to hear your music because 2 minutes later a different person will ask you to shut it off or lower the volume
If you’re Chris and you play emo, everyone will tell you to shut it off after max. 2.5 songs.
Oooh how about muzak?
The fact that I can walk into work and open up iTunes is pretty neat, seeing as how IT doesn’t even want us to download any programs on office equipment… but that’s a topic for another post. This is the first place I’ve worked where my workstation wasn’t really closed off so I’m learning as I go about respecting the ‘noise pollution’ around others.
So I’m just curious, what are other office’s rules for music out there?
I pay close attention to the Canucks. I watch their games, I blog about them on occasion and I co-host a podcast where we talk about the team, weekly. Another thing I pay attention to is the guys themselves. Yeah, yeah I’m not a puck bunny but I am female and these boys are in the spotlight. I’ve blogged about Bieksa resembling Nick Lachey [Miss604] and there are a few more comparisons I could probably come up with but this time, it has to do with smiles. Zanstorm had a post about Marcus Naslund recently, sharing a concern I’ve had for some time.
Even after Markus Naslund scored a beauty goal last night, there was not a smile on his face as his teammates congratulated him. Has Naslund lost his smile? Why? Isn’t he enjoying the team’s success? Is he just ‘all business’ on the ice?[Zanstorm]
Now, I’ve noticed this more with Trevor Linden, but really the dude had a lot on his mind in the last while. His performance on the ice, being President of the NHLPA up until this year, the law suit that was launched against him because of that role, etc. But does all the weight on your shoulders make you lose your smile?
I’d say someone like Luongo should be feeling the most pressure right now, but he’s always willing to flash a well-deserved and confident grin. What are some of the most memorable Canucks smiles?
Brendan Morrison’s smile is pretty notable but that’s mostly due to him being our overtime saviour (that, and he’s missing a few chicklets). His crooked, gummy expression is up there along with the likes of Matt Cooke and even Dave Babych – well Babych’s smile is memorable cause of the mustache. As for actually physically expressing the joy you feel after scoring a goal, Kesler’s got that weird glove twirl, but I think Dave mentioned it on a recent episode of the podcast – the Tiger Williams riding the stick down the ice thing Yeaahhhhh!
So what’s with all the pouty faces? I don’t think it’s too much to ask, say Cheese! We like to see our guys happy, celebrating goals and the success we’ve all enjoyed this season. I also can’t mention Canuck smiles without giving a shout out to Marc Chouinard. I’ve experienced his smile in person [Flickr] and after scoring his second of the year (after being called out on our podcast the other night) he has a reason to be smiling a little more lately.
At the second intermission watching the Canucks vs Flames on Hockey Night in CanadaI’d love to have another reason to smile tonight.
Whenever I think of this day, I get “I Got You Babe” stuck in my head thanks to the movie, Groundhog Day.
In traditional weather lore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks. [wiki]
This year the prophetic little critter in Pennsylvania had this to say, which is a lot more than I can get out at that hour of the morning:
Phil’s official forecast as read 2/2/07 at 7:28 a.m. at Gobbler’s Knob:
El Nino has caused high winds, heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures in the west.
Here in the East with much mild winter weather we have been blessed.
Global warming has caused a great debate.
This mild winter makes it seem just great.
On this Groundhog Day we think of one thing.
Will we have winter or will we have spring?
On Gobbler’s Knob I see no shadow today.
I predict that early spring is on the way [Groundhog.org]
Our Canadian version of Phil, is Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ontario. He also predicted an early spring. But just how many of these climatically inclined critters are out there? City News gives us a list including, but not limited to: Buckeye Chuck, French Creek Freddy and Balzac Billy. Way to go guys, today is YOUR day.
My eldest son will be starting Kindergarten in September and had been out of preschool for the past year. I previously had him in a ‘parent participation preschool’ [ppp] but found the demands to be too great on a one parent household. I think parent participation schools are wonderful,in that the parents are what make the schools work. They the teacher’s helpers, the field trip organizers and the fundraisers (among countless other jobs). You become so familiar with the other families you become support network for each other. Not to mention we had FREE parent education sessions every month. In the long run however these schools are now being challenged because of the time required to be a part of a school like this and with most families now having 2 working parents it becomes nearly impossible to have a ‘duty’ parent available a few times a month.
