thankful

The past year has been difficult for all of us, but we also have much to be thankful for.

No matter what difficulties have come our way, we are lucky and we know it.

So last night we went to help prepare a Thanksgiving meal for the homeless. We helped peel and chop 1000 pounds of potatoes. Today, the professor and I are going back to help serve, while Punk and Kooka are in Wisconsin.

And even though it is pretty hard to be without your kids on Thanksgiving, as long as they keep growing into the kind of people who can peel vegetables until midnight to help another human being - I will always have something to be thankful for.

difficult people

Punk is learning a hard lesson at school.

There are difficult people in this world - people who cannot accept responsibility for their own culpability in certain situations, people who genuinely feel that they are smarter than others, people who will judge you just to make their own agendas seem valid.

And some of those people are not students.

And to be clear - it is not his teacher either. Punk loves his teacher. We all do.


I actually had a full length post written here - a full explanation about Punk's trials at his new school. But I have decided that the ramifications of printing the truth may have consequences for my younger child, who as of this writing is still at the school. (It isn't her teacher either - we absolutely adore her).

So I am moving this post to the private blog - and if anybody really wants to know what's going on - feel free to ask.

new gig

Punk got his first commercial gig, and the retailers seem to love his style, because they keep commenting on the cool logo.

He drew the labels for the S.O.S. soap sack, which you can now buy at the local co-op and at Ooh-La-La.

They are pretty handy little devices, especially if you like to buy the homemade soap like we do, but our favorite part of the whole thing, is the great cartoon.

christmas bells

Tonight we went to ring the red kettle bell at the mall. We were only there for two hours, but Punk and Kooka did a great job, and I think they pulled in over 200 bucks.

On another note - both kids went to see Santa today, and were surprised/freaked out when he said "Kooka, you have been a really good girl this year, but I need you to pick up those doll clothes that are always laying on the floor. And Punk, you are such a great kid, and things have been tough in your school, so just keep listening to your mom and dad."

Even I was amazed.

punk's poem

It has no title, but I think it is beautifully Punk, here is the start of his winter poem assignment:

As winter dawns near,
the critters flee from the icy layer of cold that muffles fall.
It's as if the animals are being pursued by a wave of snow.
Some birds fly away.
Some critters dig to make an underground home.
Some adapt and change to fit into winter.
Some,
fall fast asleep.
The whisper of winter chases animals into their warm shelters.

help

I don't know who these girls are, and my only hope is that they don't have parents like the balloon boy, or a father like Joe Jackson. I hope that they are doing this of their own free will, because they don't look terribly happy about it - but damn they are good!

Why doesn't Disney hire kids like this instead of kids they have to teach to sing?

update

It's been a while since the last post, but time is precious, so here is a quick list of our life right now.

* Dance show on Wednesday night. Two hockey players, one soccer super-star, and a concert violinist dancing to my hip hop choreography. (Crazily - they look amazing together)
* Kooka is reading Matilda by Roald Dahl
* Punk is reading Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
* Kooka has been busy for weeks on her inventions - the latest of which is a go-kart.
* My little brother's birthday is Saturday
* Both kids wrote out Christmas lists already, and are wondering why we don't have a tree up yet.
* Volunteering on Thanksgiving. Hopefully the kids will get to help out a few days before.
*Went to see the Director's play last weekend. Scared the bejesus out of everybody. Guess who's still sleeping with the light on . . .
* Working on a Flash Mob, and can't say any more about it. Shhhhhhhhh

more from the "are you freaking KIDDING me?!" dept.

The class bully has not stopped. In fact, Punk has suffered at least 3 more assaults since the last writing.

We have been told that "there is no such thing as a bully" and that perhaps Punk has brought this on himself by "talking to this child" or "sitting at the same table." Everyone involved agrees that Punk has really done nothing wrong, but since he has no "special needs" - he needs to be the bigger person. He is supposed to understand that certain people have issues - and if their issues cause him physical scarring or even brain damage - well that is the way of the world - or at least the way of this particular school.

Ok.

Whatever.

That's not even the point today.

Today's file includes this little gem:

After another "difficult" child was stealing from Punk and his friends, Punk did exactly what his father and I asked him to do - he confronted the situation verbally. The kid then began clawing at Punk and pulling on his clothes. So Punk moved to plan B (also dished out by his fed-up parents) which was to physically extricate himself from the situation. We told him to put his hands out and shove, push, whatever you call it, to regain his physical space and safety.

According to his report - he did not even do what we asked. He turned and brushed the kid off of him. Said child fell to the ground and began complaining that Punk shoved him.

Good thing Punk is a near Buddhist. The kid is no saint - he is a bit of a goofball, and an incredible smart-alec when the occasion calls. But anyone who has met him knows that he is a pacifist. The kid won't even swat mosquitoes. He is not a hitter - which is sort of a shame at this point.

So tonight, Punk recalls his trip to the principal's office for me. "Mom," he says, "It's almost funny at this point, because the principal looks at the other kid and says, 'YOU stop clawing people,' then turns to me and says, 'and YOU quit shoving!' Like it is MY fault I had to pry this kids' nails off of my skin."

He actually laughs out loud when he says, "Oh no mom - you didn't hear the best part yet. Best part is when the teacher said, 'You know Punk if you are hitting people we will have to remove you from school.'"

Say it with me folks . . . WTF????!!!!!

Yeah - Punk's words were "Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME?! I have been pummelled in the face for two months, and the ONE time I actually take my parent's advice and protect myself, I am threatened with suspension?! What the . . . ?"

And if he had let the F word slip out, I could not possibly have blamed him.

halloween

In case you have never been to our house at Halloween - your loss.

We go all out - Punk and Kooka especially.

This was just during trick or treating - the party afterward was even MORE amazing.