The things our girls have taught us this past year. Enjoy.
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A bit about “Nicholby” or No Child Left Behind, except those that really can be great students.
For my friends who are currently pregnant. Look what you’re doing!
In a 1943 conversation with William Hermanns recorded in Hermanns’ book Einstein and the Poet, Einstein said: “As I have said so many times, God doesn’t play dice with the world.” (p. 58)
Or, as my husband so delicately puts it, “When I see hot chicks, I see God.”
A few weeks ago, I tripped on Charles Krauthammer.
OK, I didn’t trip *on* him, but I definitely walked into his wheelchair and had to stop short while he sped out of the way. That’s what happens when I try to read and walk at the same time. Why can’t I trip on an O’s fan or something more poetic?
Mr. K is one of my favorite political commentators (I really don’t think that should be a word.) on Fox News and the Post. He also has Nationals season tickets two sections over from ours. I’ve seen him a few times and I’ve always wanted to say Hi. I’ve never wanted to trip on his wheelchair, but such are the oddities of my life, along with being clumsy. And socially awkward.
Speaking of socially awkward, I decided to chat Charlie K. up last week. I approached him (while trying to eat his dinner….strike two) and told him I was a big fan. After my impressive opening line, I asked him who, in his professional opinion, I should vote for. His reply: “Anyone but Obama.” Well, duh.
Back in our seats, we enjoyed the game with a family friend- one of a dozen known Republican Jews. He hates Obama. He rails against Obama. When asked who he’d vote for in 2012, his answer is Romney. If Perry or Bachmann wins the ticket? Obama.
WHAT?
So I realized we need to get it together. Don’t vote for your favorite candidate. My favorite candidate at this point is Santorum. It makes my father-in-law cry. I’m not going to vote for Santorum in the primaries. Or Bachmann. Or anyone that can’t get at least 270 electoral votes. See, I have to vote for the man (yes- I said it- man) who can beat Barack. Not the person with my preferred platform. Or best accent. Or coolest hair, though the last one is a toughie. Bachmann wins that one. Or maybe Kate Middleton…
I digress.
Jim Geraghty says it best:
“I walk into this decision knowing I have to balance how much I like [the candidate] against the criteria of whether enough voters in enough states to amount to 270 electoral votes like him. There’s no point in getting the GOP to nominate my ideal candidate — say, the mind of Friedrich Hayek in the body of Salma Hayek — if the country won’t elect him or her.”
As though he interviewed my husband, he’s got it right.
Cracking the Kindergarten Code.
We are freaking out. Our kids’ neighborhood elementary school is a magnet school- a magnet school that has failed the SOLs so many times that it is about to lose it’s national accreditation. The No Child Left Behind law mandates that schools offer “school choice” for children whose neighborhood school has failed the SOLs at least two years in a row. There are some great schools in our city. The problem is that about 50% of our district’s schools are failing, so 10 schools worth of children are vying for space in the five schools that are viably successful. That’s not a lot of space.
Sophie will probably do well in any school. My worry is that the kids who are behind will take the precious time and energy of her teachers, such that Sophie and other bright kids like her won’t get the time they need to have their creative little minds stretched. I recently read that schools have spent so much money on children who learn more slowly (was that PC enough for ya?) that they are now squashing the potential of the intellectually gifted kids. I don’t know if Sophie is “gifted”, but I know she’s really smart. She asks a lot of questions and is in the middle of every experience she has. If she is ignored or even discouraged by a teacher who doesn’t have the time to answer her questions, she’ll become stagnant. She’s one of those kids who needs to know, and she won’t stop until she does. She needs to be surrounded by other kids like her.
We have to look at private schools, ranging from $6,000 annually to a whopping $24,000 per child. Yikes! Sophie will undergo the
WPPSI-iii pre-k intelligence testing.
this fall. Its like college. She needs testing, teacher recommendations, and annual tuition higher than my own college tuition. Crazy, but these are the things we do for our kids.
Anyone want to buy our house???