Here are the November highlights:
- Luke wins student of the month award
- Beautiful fall day at the beach
- Annual Thanksgiving get together
- We host our second Adventure Guides’ meeting
- Kids already have their Christmas lists ready (Lilah two lists, one for her, which includes a page one and two, and one for Luke)
Looks like I took a little break from picture-taking this month as evidenced by this month’s lack of images. But rest assured, there were still some good stories to tell.
Luke Wins His First Student of the Month
We were pleasantly surprised this month with an invitation to attend Luke’s student of the month ceremony. It was an intimate event comprised of the student winners, their parents and the principal. Each student was called individually by the principal who shook the student’s hand and then read a letter from the teacher (aloud) citing the various reasons the child was selected to win the award. The principal also handed the student a copy of the letter along with other prizes donated by local businesses such as Skating Plus, In and Out, etc.. Each month, students are chosen for the award based on how well they represent the month’s theme. November happened to be the month of self control. Apparently, Luke is the embodiment of this character trait, along with a few other choice attributes which are spelled out in the excerpt from his teacher’s letter below:
Luke is a solid, dependable and respectful student. He takes on both math and reading with ease. As an independent worker, he does regular class work, and then goes to an appropriate choice, including extending thinking math. He is a model for all the character traits, especially respect. Congratulations to Luke and family.
The ceremony was really well done as each student had his or her own moment to shine while everyone learned about their wonderful merits. Definitely some great positive reinforcement. Well done Luke!
Lilah Has a Big Girl Moment
During the Thanksgiving break, I took Luke and Lilah to a trampoline fun center — a place where the kids can jump on numerous trampolines, run around different obstacles, and dive into pits filled with hundreds of foam cubes. I thought it would be a great place to take them while I sat and did a little work in the adult “rest area.” My goal was just to find a quiet place to do some work on the laptop while the kids had their fun. Problem was that the rest area was full of TVs, adults talking in loud voices, and doors slamming at 2-3 minute intervals. Needless to say, I didn’t get much work done. However, as I typed away on my laptop I heard a child’s voice, which I initially ignored. Then the voice got louder as the child asked “Does anybody in here have a daughter named…?” The voice continued, “She twisted her ankle and needs help.” I can’t remember the name of the girl with the injured ankle, but the child with the loud voice addressing the room full of adults was none other than my daughter Lilah. Keep in mind she is only 10 years old and is a pretty soft-spoken kid for the most part.
I guess what impressed me the most is that she did not come over to my side and ask that I make the announcement. Instead, she took the initiative, addressed the group, and found the injured girl’s mother. I was blown away. You know, I always tell people that one of my jobs as a parent is to try to make sure that my kids are a little bit better than me (you know, the each generation tries to make the next generation better concept). At age 10, there is no way I think I would have made an announcement like that. I would have been too shy to do so. Lilah, you definitely did better than daddy there. Very proud of you.
Getting Ready for Christmas
As always, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner where the main dishes were the two Ts: turkey and tri-tip. Everything went well, but now that it’s over, it means Christmas is right around the corner. Lilah has already taken the initiative and written her Christmas list. She even wrote Luke’s list. At the top of Lilah’s first list was an Apple laptop, along with a host of other gifts. I say “first list,” because I think she felt like she had perhaps asked for too much after I lectured her on the fact that Apple laptops are very pricey and that we needed to wait an see what the school policy was for sixth graders at her school as they’re all supposed to get laptops to start the new year. Begrudgingly, she removed the laptop from her list and came up with a second more budget-friendly one which you can see here (page one and two).
Still, the seed was planted in my head that it would be cool to get Lilah her own laptop for school so when I saw an ad for a $259 laptop at Best Buy during one of the football games, I thought….hmm…maybe. It was probably the best Black Friday deal I’d seen, but as I read up on the offer, I learned that most stores would probably only have 3 laptops in stock, meaning there was a good chance they’d be sold out if you didn’t get to the store early, meaning 5:00 AM when the store opened. Being a Black Friday virgin, I did not know that “early” really meant much earlier than that. This realization hit me as I got off the freeway and saw that the line to enter Best Buy went from the front of the store all the way around the building. I didn’t even pull into the parking lot. Instead, I shook my head, got right back on the freeway and went home marveling at the fact that Black Friday is really its own cultural phenomenom where thousands of people pack into parking lots at god forsaken hours in the hopes of stealing a deal. Who knew? All I know is that it’s not for me. Besides the laptop isn’t on Lilah’s list anymore ;-). More next month…