GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Category: Family

  • Xiangqi

    A few weeks ago, we went up to Mount Charleston. On the way there we picked up some sandwiches at Dakao while my wife and daughter got veggies at the little grocery store next door. When I mentioned that there were some guys playing Chinese Chess at the sandwich shop, our daughter really wanted to watch but we were already on the road. So I promised I’d teach her the game instead.

    The next day I picked up the set at my parents house and we sat down to play. She played in her usual silly, amusing way. I’m not even so sure she played as much as moved the pieces according to my advice. But even so, I think we had fun messing around.

    My philosophy is that games are for playing, not winning, so I’m OK with that.

    When she was born five years ago, I had two games I wanted to teach her – Xiangqi and Mahjongg. I’ve played MJ with her a couple times, and now I’ve introduced her to Xiangqi. Who knows if she’ll really get into either game, indeed I would prefer that she doesn’t become super serious about either game.

    But at least this pair of games have now been given flight. Now I’m the one along for the ride.

  • Whoo…

    So our girl stoically walked into school yesterday morning.

    But I had a hard time seeing her go.

    You’d think all that practice with preschool would prepare me for this. But I had puffy eyes all day.

    Letting go isn’t easy, even if it’s just for six hours and twenty one minutes.

    But she enjoyed her first day. On to day two!

  • Kindergarten

    Our girl starts school today.

    She’s excited, especially after we bought a bunch of juice boxes for her lunch.

    On the other hand, my wife and I had a rough go of it.

    She has been attending pre-school / daycare for the past couple years, both for half and full days. So this isn’t new to us, and yet it feels like a big change.

    In the past we’ve been customer in charge of the situation, and we’ve pulled her out of a couple places where it was not working great.

    But in starting school, especially in this era of school choice, we’ve put our faith in this particular system for the next year to treat and teach our daughter right. That’s a scary leap.

    No one told us letting the girl into the wider world would be this nerve wracking.

  • Red Wagon, Radio Flyer

    The kids really do enjoy being pulled around the backyard.

    The route is a looping crooked figure 8, with a portion of it on the lawn.

    The air is still quite warm, even after the sun has set down beyond the block wall.

    I doubt they will remember any of it when they grow up.

    But I hope I do.

  • Cedar City

    In June, we went on a weekend road trip out to Cedar City, Utah.

    It’s a nice little town, worth a visit.

    There was a few nice parks, we caught a free show outside their Shakespearean theater as well as another little event up in the hills, popped into a little natural history gallery at the university, checked out their art museum, and their excellent Frontier Homestead State Park.

    Oh and we used the indoor pool at the hotel every day we were there. The girl hasn’t learned to swim, but she does love to play in the water!

    The most striking thing about the city is how small it was. We were constantly amazed how our google map instructions always invariably had us turning much sooner than we were used to zigging and zagging.

    It was well worth a visit and maybe a even a return visit or two as the kids grow up, though I suspect the next visits would involve some camping and a bit more nature instead of being such a focused mini-cosmopolitan adventure.

  • Ahhh

    I remember seeing a comic strip in junior college where it consisted 9 boxes of of two dudes saying “dude” to each other, with subtitles under each box to explain the particular meaning of each use of the word.

    My boy has hit that phase in his life. It turns out that “ahh” with various hand gestures and different intonations is an extremely versatile word.

    You really can get quite a bit done with just one expertly executed vowel sound.

  • Smelling the roses

    My girl is really good at stalling and delaying. (I get the impression many kids have developed this skill.)

    But as much as she drags her feet in the morning, we will always take a moment to look at grandpa’s flower bed as we walk out to the car.

    When kindergarten starts in a few weeks, we won’t be able to indulge in this little luxury. But right now, we don’t have a hard schedule to hit, so I might as well teach her to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.

  • New Teeth

    The two lower front teeth teeth have grown in.

    Life comes at you fast.

    She was a baby yesterday, and now she’s got her permanent teeth.

    As a parent, you just hope you aren’t screwing up anything that will hold them back over for the rest of their lives.

  • Lefty?

    Our boy has started using a spoon to eat.

    And that’s when I realized how much I was hoping he would be a lefty.

    Cause every time he uses his right hand I feel sad.

    My wife says there is still hope, that he occasionally uses his left hand.

    That’s easy for her to say, she already got one kid following her footsteps.

  • Disney on the Cheap

    While our girl still prefers to go to Disneyland, I’ve noticed that she and her brother seem to get quite a bit of joy playing around the house or in our small excursions around town.

    If my eyes aren’t lying to me, rolling around the backyard in a plastic wagon garnered as many laughs and giggles as hanging around the magic kingdom.

    Going to a neighborhood park is not an all encompassing “total experience” like going to an amusement park, but in the moment, I don’t think it’s that much of a dropoff for the kids.

    Not that I plan on shortchanging the kiddos on resort experiences that we can afford, but I don’t think the marginal ROI is nearly as much as the marketing hype would like us to believe.