Does Super Nanny make House-calls to Costa Rica?

An exhausting week, still trying to find some normalcy after just one day/night away last weekend. I guess our boys crave the routine/schedule so even an ‘overnighter’ can throw things out of whack for a week. It has been tough since our return from San Gerardo last Saturday. I continue to TRY to be consistent, fair and firm while attempting to keep a sense of calm when laying down the law at home. I always think of Miss Julie in these situations (their teacher last year at Seton Montessori) – she had such a calming way about her with the kids and even when she was in an ‘instructional’ mode, she was so gentle with her words. So she is an inspiration to me, especially over these last 6 days. Really concentrating on the importance of manners with the boys...(please, thank you, looking people in the eye when greeting them and keeping their left hand in their lap during meal times (the latter being quite the challenge). I remember Auntie Beth stressing meal-time manners with Josh and Zach at a young age, so I figure, start now and by the time they are off to college, they’ll get ‘it’ ☺ My ‘pet peeve’ of late is trying to get the boys to understand, instead of screaming at the top of your lungs from the tree swing, clear across the yard, to ask me for a PUSH – get off the swing, come to me in a calm manner, and ask “mom, could you please push me on the swing”!? You know boys, we do have neighbors here and although we rise at 5:30 a.m., doesn’t mean our poor neighbors need to. Frequently, John and Adrienne (the School’s Director and his wife) who actually ARE our neighbors, witness the meltdowns, tantrums etc. first hand. I just know that tables will soon turn and they will start to catch the boys in behaviour befitting almost four-year olds. So – this little recap, not only catches you up on how I've spent my last days but is also a preface for the summary below of my first school volunteer experience Thursday afternoon.

At the fundraiser last Saturday night, I was approached by Kimbra, another parent, to assist her and Mike with their final mini-course this past Thursday between 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. The mini-courses are offered each Thursday and often times, the parents get involved co-partnering with a teacher or another parent to teach a skill or showcase a particular talent they may have. (anything from computer skills, practical skills, cooking, sports, etc.) I think the courses span a quarter or semester. Mike and Kimbra's course (Art and Nature) involved getting the kids outside to observe nature, collect leaves, etc and draw some of their findings. Thursday's crescendo involved using fabric paint, leaves and book bags/T-shirts to stencil on the leaf prints with the intent of sharing the book bags with their parents during next weeks “parent-teacher’ conferences. There were about 12 kids in the mini-course; only two girls – kids ranging from ages 8 to 12.

Interesting to be out of the Three year-old world for awhile...my observations were the following:

As I floated around the room, I was often asked for more paint, or help pressing a leaf onto the book bag – what amazed me is that I did not hear “Please, could you get me some more green paint” or “ could you please help me with this leaf” – perhaps I was so atune with these basic manners since it is just this type of thing that consumes my day with my two three year olds, but immediately I thought to myself “where are their manners”? Is it a cultural thing?

The kids address the teacher on a first name basis – “Mike – come here”, “Mike – can I see this” etc…this was such a new concept for me as the kids at Francis Parker in Chicago where Mike previously taught addressed faculty very formally. Again a cultural thing or perhaps MFS being a Quaker school, they encourage teacher/student relationships to be on a more informal basis. I didn't dare introduce myself as “Mrs. Schaefer”. Just another difference to get accustomed to.

It was a task keeping the kids focused and engaged for the 90 minutes – perhaps because they are of the pre-teen age (need I say more) or was the environment too informal to foster structure without rigidity?

After the activity I shared my observations with Kimbra and Mike and had another interesting conversation with Mike about it last night.

Miss Manners I am not – Gosh, I am so exhausted just trying to keep my own kids from screaming, throwing or hitting each other most days – however I do recognize how important it is for me to continue to re-inforce good behavior and respect. Is it time for me to call in Super Nanny? Does she make house-calls?

So what’s next? The school has reached out to the parents asking for volunteers to lead or co-facilitate mini-courses starting after the October break. I have expressed an interest in giving a course on “How to set up a Blog” or “How to play basketball” since I played in high-school (although it has been along time – I do recall something about zone defense vs. man –to-man???) There are plenty of opportunities to get involved at the school and I look forward to having some time to help out in anyway I can.

Speaking of the October break which is the week of 10/12, we had thought we may need to head to Nicaragua for three days as we are still waiting for our work visas to come through, but the school tells us we have paperwork that will suffice in the interim until the final papers arrive. So local we will stay! We are thinking about going somewhere with the boys for 2 or 3 days (perhaps to Arenal to experience the volcano and then head back home to take in some of the local attractions here that we have not had a chance to frequent as of yet. If we can swing it, Mike and I are also interested in taking some Spanish classes or hooking up with a tutor so we can concentrate on honing our Spanish while Goudy watches the boys. Need to firm something up as mid-October is fast approaching.

Mike and I are busy at night – I continue to assist him with some of his organization tasks (developing templates or entering data into his grading program as he needs to prepare 32 assessments for his kids in his 4 classes so he can present them to the parents during the 10/8 conference day.

One other comment, I plan on attending an Evangelical Christian Church this Sunday just outside of Santa Elena. One of the mother’s of a classmate of the boys (who I befriended at the Parent’s tea last month) attends and has offered to pick me up and have me accompany her and her family on Sunday. I look forward to it – I believe one of the Guindon sons is the Pastor.

Thanks Choppy and Poppy for the package (again) – ah, a new pot-holder, more stickers, balloons and granola bars for the boys, magnets, glad wrap ‘thingys” and a new Children’s Bible. The boys and I spent over an hour on the patio reading the stories before dusk set in last night and spent a lot of time talking about Moses (they loved the concept of the baby in the basket and also the parting of the sea) – when I said “enough, I need to start dinner”, the kids responded “more mom, read more’, so there you have it. Their minds are so inquisitive and OH the questions that come out of their little mouths. I look forward to re-inforcing the stories and working the readings into our daily/weekly routine.

Off to the Farmers market - All for today
Signed: S