Report Cards

Four times a year in elementary school, my parents would receive a card with a paragraph update accompanied by boxes filled in with a subtraction sign, a check mark (tick), or a star.  These three symbols either represented the effort a student was giving or the achievement level.  As I got older, the teachers began giving out A's, B's, C's, and so on.  This served as the Ohio-style of reporting to parents the progress their child was making--although, I imagine that the other states have the same system.  Combined with one or two parent-teacher conferences, the parents seemed sufficiently updated on how their child was doing in school.

In my school, our 'reports' were due this week to be proofread by the head teacher.  Parents in England only receive one report in summation of the entire year's progress and throughout the year, they meet twice for conferences with the teacher.  Before this year, each student received a two-paged typed report with a paragraph for each subject.  This used to take me about 24 hours to finish.  Thankfully, with some changes to the regime, every child has a one-page report with only five paragraphs to summarise their progress in reading, writing, mathematics, 'other subjects,' and general comments (my favourite one because you get to talk about the student's classroom behaviour).  We don't use a check mark or star, but rather a ranking system made-up of letters and numbers showing where the students are in comparison with age-related expectations.

This is still time consuming, but not nearly as much as it used to be.  Also, I have thought of a way to make it easier next year (and maximise my family time):  I can complete the general comments section before the end of the year.  If a child is a 'good listener' or 'kind to others' at the beginning of the year, he is usually the same ten months later.  And if the student is the opposite to that, it is rare that he can completely change his ways.  I have had a couple of breakthroughs this year, but I can't perform miracles.

Getting dizzy at the park

Jackson insists on climbing stairs upright and using the railing

Swinging away while watching the dogs at the park

Carefully guiding his trains along the track saying, "Choo choo!"

Developmental updates:  Jackson has officially grown out of his 12-18 month tops and pajamas, but he still fits into the pants (trousers in the UK).  We took a look around and realised that he's also outgrown his rattles, soft books, Little Tikes garden centre, ball pit, and some other 'baby' toys.  Yesterday, we packed-up a whole tub of clothes and wrapped-up and labelled his toys for the attic.  There is suddenly a lot more floor space for Jackson to run and ride his pirate ship and push his trucks and cars around.  There is also more space to play chase which excites him to no end.  This week, Jackson has developed a cough and lost his appetite a bit.  He seems to be in high spirits other than that, so we aren't too worried.  We'll see how he develops over the next week.  There weren't any new words this week, but he is saying 'car' every time we see one while driving or walking.  He is doubling his effort by saying 'car car.'  We're not sure why he started doing this, but he will probably retire to just the one 'car' eventually.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Gulliver's World

Yesterday we travelled to Gulliver's World in Warrington as an early Father's Day celebration.  The weather forecast said that we would have clear skies and warm temperatures so we headed out at about 9:30 and made it there in less than 45 minutes.  It was really easy to drive there and the closer we got to Warrington, the view became very leafy with thick forestry.

The day did not disappoint weather-wise because it was extremely hot without a cloud in the sky.  If Jackson was old enough, then we probably would have ridden the water rides all day.  We definitely over-dressed for the day, but luckily we were wearing layers because t-shirts and tank-tops were on the cards.  When it was time for Jackson to take a nap in his stroller, we just let him wear his bodysuit (baby grow).  Gulliver's World seems to be a well-established theme park so the grounds were mainly covered in shade except for the parts in the African-themed area where there seems to be expansion going on.

We were really fortunate that we decided to go during Father's Day weekend because Lee got in for free.  Also, because Jackson is shorter than 90 cm, his admission was free!  We were expecting the price of tickets for adults to be about £30 or so, but for adults the cost is only £18.95.  That seems really inexpensive to me for a six-and-a-half hour day at an amusement park.  The prices for food were reasonable, as well.  All-in-all, we spent the same amount that we would have if we went out to eat at Pizza Express.  (It's always a good feeling when we overestimate our budget for the day!)

There were about ten different rides and attractions for Jackson's height and his favourite ones were the dinosaur carousel, the vintage cars, and the planes.  By the end of the day, he got used to the pattern of riding a ride and then exiting without getting upset.  For the plane ride, as soon as he exited, I ran him back to the entrance gate so that he could ride again right away.  There was an area devoted to dinosaurs and they had some that seemed to be made to scale based on skeletons I have seen in museums.  Jackson thought they were real and loved to spot them through the bushes and trees.  He built-up his patience throughout the day and seemed to understand what waiting in line meant after the first few rides.

Our travel tips for the day if travelling to a theme park:  take the stroller even if your toddler can walk, but also take the harness and reins for mobility.  With the stroller, take one bag (preferably an insulated picnic-style bag) to hold the snacks, drinks, a few diapers, a pack of wipes, and the diaper cream.  Then, have one person carry the money, cards, and keys in their pocket or a small handbag so that when you go on a ride all together and leave the stroller by the ride operator, there are no valuables left there for you to worry about.

Waving and saying 'bye-bye'

Jackson loved choosing his own animal

Riding a raft through an Aztec river

View of the scene upon entering

Racing in the Grand Prix

A very proud looking pilot

P.S.  Happy Father's Day to my dad back in Ohio!  I hope that you have a great day and we will see you very soon.

Developmental updates:  Jackson had a huge outburst of new vocabulary this week!  His diction is very clear and we were taken aback when yesterday, on our outing, we heard five new words alone.  Here is a list of his new words and phrases:  bubble, please, hot, see you later, good boy, blue ball, dinosaur, zebra (the UK pronunciation), and sweaty.  Jackson has started pretending to be asleep with his own version of snoring included!  He also thinks if he just makes this noise, but doesn't close his eyes, he is still 'sleeping.'  Jackson is also experimenting with moving in new ways which include walking backwards and walking with his eyes closed.  Thankfully, he has stopped crying when he gets in and out of car (about 90% success rate with this one; it's not completely resolved, yet).  If he has a diaper that needs changed, then he will also get his changing mat on his own and present us with it and a clean diaper.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Cat City

Lee and I have decided that pets are not convenient for us for many reasons.  The only pet that we agree that would ever be a possibility for us is a dog.  But, after weighing the pros and cons, we realised the cons are too great for us at this time.

Pets create costs for food, veterinary bills, toys, and grooming.  They need to be looked after any time you want to leave the house for more than a day and even then, you cannot leave the house for too long in one day because they will need to be fed and let out.  On top of all of this is the little extras they can bring into the house like fleas, mud, smells, bugs, and other small animal friends.  And who knows when they might bite or scratch or chew up the furniture?  There are just too many things to worry about and with a baby at home, the extra effort just isn't worth it for us now.

It seems that a lot of our neighbours in Ainsdale have found a solution to wanting a pet but not wanting to take care of one:  get a cat!

Yes, cats are apparently allowed to dig in everyone's flowerbeds and leave disgusting droppings for you to find while planting and weeding.  They are also allowed to prowl on and under cars.  The worst of their offences is hiding behind the low walls by the sidewalk (pavement) and then jumping up to be shoulder-height just as you walk by their little trap.

Our back yard's security light goes off at all times of the night due to these rebel prowlers so even though I thought that they at least went home at night to be watched by their 'owners,' they don't!  These trespassing felines are in charge and Ainsdale seems to accept them as their pets, welcoming them over to 'give them a stroke.'  (I am the exception to this rule; the only thing I have ever said to the cats is, 'Go home.'  They are starting to listen to me now.  At first, they thought I was one of the natives.  Sorry, but I am not a 'cat person.')

I keep wondering why cats get a pass as public pets.  Imagine if people let out their chickens, rabbits, hamsters, dogs, and turtles for the day.  Madness!  I think we need to redefine the term 'pet' and if someone owns a pet, it shouldn't be allowed to be half-wild, half-domesticated.

So although we are not ready for a pet--which could only ever be a dog--when we are ready for one, we will keep it on a leash when we leave the house and within our property's boundaries when we are at home.  We have enough to worry about with bees, wasps, pigeons, and ... well, that's all of the wildlife I can think of around here ... so let's try to keep the list low and take cats off the streets.

Exploring our local park with his updated running and climbing skills

Getting really dizzy by spinning and looking out of the side of his eye

Playing his invented spinning game

The future England captain

Reading his pop-up book to us before bed

Developmental updates:  Jackson turned 20-months-old on Sunday.  It hardly seems possible that he is nearly two already!  Jackson's new words this week were horse, everybody, please, gone, and bee.  He has been practising his kicking and throwing skills with a soccer ball (football) and bocce ball (lawn bowl) respectively.  He is still going through a phase where he doesn't want to be left at nursery, but his teachers have reassured me that he calms down after I leave within about ten minutes.  Our prediction as to why this is happening is because a lot of his friends moved up to the next toddler class and he must be missing them.  Jackson has been making sound effects especially when we read We're Going On a Bear Hunt for the grass swishing and the wind in the snowstorm.  He consistently picks out 101 Dalmatians from the DVD shelf and he finds watching the puppies very exciting.  We took a few trips to the local park this week and Jackson wore his baby harness and reins for the first time.  He wasn't wild about putting it on because he didn't understand its purpose, but then when we got home, he associated it with being outside and didn't want to take it off.  It really is a good solution for children with lots of energy who are also fearless.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.