Earth Hour 2010

Our family spent Earth Hour having lentil and sausage stew by candlelight.

Afterwards, Dad and Mum were treated to an impromptu performance - by torchlight - of the Furious Five in Kung Fu Panda.

Mantis, Tigress, Monkey, Snake, err...who's the last one?

Interim School Report/Parent-Teacher Interview 2010

Last night's interview with Beth's Grade Two teacher was such a blessing.

I learned that my little girl is smart, well-liked, popular, and that she does whatever she is asked to do, easily. I have to confess, my eyebrows went up at the mention of "well-liked" and "popular".

I saw her spelling results. 69 out of 70 for the Big Test, where the class average is in the 40s.

I learned that she is being stretched through Maths extension work in her little group of 3 with Mrs Walker, and that her teacher wants to be sure she is as strong in her measurement and shapes as she is with numbers.

We agreed that she needs work on her LEM phonics (matching a word to the rule when required) and that her reading ability far outpaces her comprehension and storytelling ability.

I felt like a child being praised when her teacher commented that Beth's after-school activities are perfect for rounding her out. (Beth wisely kept the bit about jujitsu to herself, as her martial arts instructor forbids students to boast about their involvement.)

I planned on going in alone, but Beth sneaked in as well, and sat on the floor next to me drawing innocently into her notebook...and eavesdropping on the interview.

Afterwards, we went out to Hungry Jack's to celebrate.

Hubby's question to me after the interview: so what's Beth's position in class? *sigh*

Funnily enough, Mum asked exactly the same question when I got on the phone to her later that night.

I had to explain that in AUS, they don't do positions. But yes, secretly I too would love to know what my child's class ranking is!

The Lighter Side of Beth

I know we're supposed to embrace all that our children are, and not fuss about what they are not.

But I do often worry about my serious-minded, precocious older child whose mind operates at a different level from most 8 y.o.s. Mostly, I wonder if she will struggle with fitting in. She has friends but not best friends. Sometimes, she plays alone because her friends go off and do their own thing and she isn't asked along. She is not the bubbly sort who hugs others or smiles a lot. Sometimes she can look downright surly and unapproachable. She has come out of her shell a lot since Prep, but she will always be the quiet one, or as her Grade One teacher used to call her, "a fringe dweller".

Yet she is the same little girl I enjoy having random conversations with, and bouncing ideas off. She's an excellent helper in Sunday School (and not just when Mummy is teaching), a die-hard Harry Potter and Star Wars junkie who's now into Zac Power and Ben 10. She loves detail, perfection (being correct), spelling, big words, crafts, art, Ancient Greece and of course, all kinds of books.

My hubby is very good at drawing out the playful little girl in Beth, the one who smiles and giggles and love tickles and hugs.

On Sunday afternoon as we explored the Geelong Waterfront, he captured these precious shots of Beth as she tried to dance out of the camera's reach.

I enjoy this side of Beth as much as I appreciate her maturity.

On the way to school, Beth asked me one of her famous random questions.

It arose from my remark that I had been really miserable on my first day back at work 7 years ago after taking a year off to look after her. She said she probably was too. :-)

She then asked: "Did you have to dress like Zhen Ying?"

Xu Zhen Ying is the name of the female lead in the K-drama Hotelier, which Beth and I love (except she hates the ending and would rewrite it if she could!). In the drama, XZY is a dedicated hotel assistant manager who constantly puts work first, even ahead of relationships. Her uniform is black jacket, black skirt and white blouse.

So I said yes, in my first three years working with the Legal Aid Bureau, I did have to dress in black and white nearly every day. I talked about court appearances, the difference in dress code between "in chambers" and "open court", how nervous I was when I had to stand up in the courtroom and say "May it please Your Honour, my name is Serena Low..." and the sort of clients I worked with.

It wasn't a long conversation, but it was nice having my 8 yo to share such intimate details with, and to remember a time past when my vocab and social circle wasn't all about parenting, school work and fellow moms. A time when I actually had A Life Of My Own.