Just A Normal Monday Morning, Right?

Dropping M off at school today was a little emotional.  I know, rationally, that she is safe, that nothing is going to happen.  She's going to have an awesome day getting ready for her mini-field trip to the nursing home tomorrow to sing Christmas carols for the elderly.  Which, quite frankly, I think is hilarious.  I wish I could be a fly on the wall in a room full of elderly people watching 4 & 5-year-olds' rendition of Jingle Bells.  As Barney Stinson would say, it's going to be legen - wait for it - dary.

Enough about that...

We've kept M & E completely in the dark about Sandy Hook Elementary.  Part of it is that I don't think they need to know.  Part of it is how do you even explain that?  I don't want her to be afraid to go to school or out in public.  I want to keep her faith in humanity for as long as possibly.  And there's a lot of good to show her in people's reactions to what happened, but it's just awful.

When parking the car,  I looked at the abandoned hospital near the parking lot, thinking about how easy it would be for someone to hide in there and pick kids & families off one by one with a sniper rifle.  Walking down the path to her class, I looked at her room (which is the same room Michael had kindergarten in) in a different light.  The first room near the exit, which always seemed so convenient for drop off and pick up, so easy to exit if there was a fire or other emergency, now seemed more like a liability if someone tried to enter, even though it's locked and there are 2 teachers there opening the door for the pre-k kids when they knock in the morning.

It was so hard to lock eyes with her teachers today.  Everyone on the staff at Turnpike Elementary that I've met has been wonderful.  I know that they would do the same for their kids that the teachers in Newton would have.  That is simultaneously so comforting and so sad.  I can't imagine how hard it must be for them today.  I only hope they know how much they are valued and appreciated.

So I gave M an extra big hug today and sent her into class to color and play and have an awesome day. And she will.  And that makes feel better.  And guilty because there are 20 sets of parents who can't do that on this Monday morning.

This Is Not My Hat

I'm going to keep these reviews short because I know we all have more important things to do but want to get good books for our kids.  So I'll try to let you know about books we've loved (or loathed) so you check them out or avoid them like the plague.  I'll rate them with trees (if I can ever find a picture that I like) on a scale of 0-5 trees with 5 trees being the best.

Last week we read This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.  We'd read I Want My Hat Back by the same author a few months ago & really enjoyed it.

For the kids: It's funny.  The pictures are great.  There aren't too many words so the wee ones aren't bored.  They get to decide the end, which is fun to see what the kids come up with.  (Molly likes to kill the fish off when I read it.)

For Parents:  It's funny.  There aren't too many words so you don't get bored reading - what's more important than that?  It shows kids that you shouldn't take things that belong to you.  And that fish look really good in bowler hats.

  

Rating:   3.5 Trees

Kids' Book Reviews

Thinking I might turn this into a kid's book review.  Parents - thoughts?