Tuesdays With Mooch: Just Witchin’ Around
Mooch is really thriving each morning with the command center. We’re still working on the evenings, because she talks a lot and she eats slowly. Her lunch often isn’t made until the morning, which isn’t the plan. Hey, at least she’s showering.
Her classes at William Grant Still Center begin this week, so we’re excited about that. She’ll be doing keyboard, voice, Shakespeare in the City, and art. It’s only a nine week program, but if she likes any of them enough, we’ll continue them at a paid program, I guess. This is just a free sampling.
She’s also finding new hobbies during her punishment — like face painting. I walked out to this last Sunday:
Fuss’ classroom closet just got an overhaul. It looks great! My hallway doesn’t, though. :-/ I’m throwing/giving a lot of things that are developmentally inappropriate away since I’m not spawning anymore young ones. I further organized all of the supplies and left tons of room for new stuff, so it doesn’t get too jam packed.
The pouring activity finally returned to the shelves this week, so she was thrilled about that. She was so excited that she accidentally spilled lentils all over the place. She cleaned them up. I moved the alphabetized small objects out of the closet and into the classroom and told her that now that she knows all of her letters, she can pull a couple of sandpaper letters down and carry the corresponding drawers to her mat. She likes having that access.
Also on our shelves: the number five with manipulative, a geometric puzzle, the pink tower, cutting with scissors (she won’t let that one go 
), one-to-one correspondence, and a couple of animal puzzles. Oh, I changed our calendar area a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a picture of that. I may return to the felt, though, because it was easier for *her* to put the dates up all by herself.
Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Mooch Turns 8
First of all, brace yourself, because Mooch’s birthday was a three-day affair. She didn’t have a party this year (Again, I only do parties for milestone years — 1,3,5,10, 13, 16, and 18), but she certainly had fun. I’ll try to keep it brief so you can just look at all of the pictures — you know, photo journal style.
Saturday, Mooch took a roller skating class at World on Wheels, and then skated with two of her Rites of Passage sisters — Ayo and Zen. Ayo got Mooch the book Dork Diaries, which is kind of like Diary of a Wimpy Kid for girls. Then the girls went for lunch at Vegan Glory, where I fell in love with Larb (Laab) Tofu salad. Next, I came home and washed/blow-dried her hair, so my friend, Saudeka, could press and curl it. Mooch requested “the same two ponytails from the wedding.” It looked really good, and it is actually lasting well.
When she got home from getting her hair done, she was surprised by this brand new bike and a hallway full of yellow balloons. She was shocked, because “it was so random.”
The next day, she and Zen (who shares a close birthday — January 8th) went to K-1 Speed in Torrance to go go-cart racing. These aren’t your mama’s little put put go-carts. Mooch felt like she was in Nascar.
We fed the girls pizza and surprised them with non-vegan chocolate treats after their race. They exchanged gifts that night and here is what Zen got for Mooch. We got her skinny jeans, shoes, and a Barbie Doll.
Monday, Mooch’s class went on a walking tour of downtown Los Angeles. She learned the history of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Million Dollar Theater, Pershing Square, and Angel’s Flight, which she rode. Her teacher took them ice skating on her dime at Pershing Square as a treat for being so attentive during the tour! I don’t have pictures of that. Sorry.
On her actual birthday, she wore a yellow shirt, blue crinoline skirt and pink and black tights to school. When I picked her up, the music box she’s been asking for was waiting in the seat (Well, technically she asked for a music box with a black fairy in it, but they don’t make those, so I had to get a Princess Tiana one from Sears. Go ahead and check if you’d like). I love random surprises and treats. I also took her to Veggie Grill and got her favorite kids’ meal, but we ate in the car on the way home, because if you stay in Santa Monica past four, you won’t get home without a traffic headache.
Tonight we ate cupcakes, and did our family birthday circle tradition, where the child carries the globe around a candle representing the sun. Mooch went around eight times, and we talked about her life at each age. Then she opened a few more presents — clothes and coupons from us for time alone with each parent.
I told her that she had advanced to an allowance, so we would no longer be doing our store set-up. I, therefore, gave her its remaining few contents for her birthday today, and we’ll start fresh with her allowance next week once I get the responsibilities chart together. The store had left in it a trivia game, Hello Kitty earrings, two clipboards, pens, and a pencil holder.
I ran her a special birthday bubble bath with candles and tucked her in.
Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Animals and Giving
Fuss is moving into a student inspired theme on the Animal Kingdom. She’s obsessed with horses and Adamu is obsessed with birds and dogs. The shelves and sensory tub will reflect that. Here is a pic of the sensory tub so far. I’m working on a doll for Kwanzaa for each girl, so after this Wednesday there will be a pause in blogging until the beginning of the year. When the children nap, I usually blog, so that time will become my doll making time.
Fuss is working on the letters, “l, i, and g,” in the classroom now, so “n,p, and c” have rotated to her backpack as road activities. She still revisits the previous letters from time to time as well. It is interesting to watch her make connections in the world around her — spotting triangles in “Yield” signs and various letters on billboards. I’m impressed.
Mooch is preparing for her school’s annual handmade holiday gift exchange. She selected a secret girl from a hat, and our family will create something special for her. We are also gearing up for our annual holiday community service acts — gifts for the children at the Police Activity League, food for the homeless, and a visit to a battered women’s shelter, where I used to teach. Mooch loves this season as do most kids. It promises a time with family and friends. Oh, and lots of food.
Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Organized Tantrums
So … yeah. Apparently, video takes up a lot of space on a hard drive. A lot! I’ll have to purchase another external hard drive, in addition to the two I’ve got, in order to save and edit anymore “Tuesdays With Mooch” episodes. Don’t frown. I’ll still write updates about her and show lots of pics. I should be getting a third hard drive by the end of the year, and she’ll be back up in January or February.
MOOCH
The Moochster is getting happier by the minute, and much more organized. I was really worried for a moment. You know, when your kid gets past age five, you become less interested in the parenting magazines, because you kinda feel like you’ve got it. The problem with that is that you DON’T have it. They are still changing developmentally — just not as rapidly. She was just going through a phase, which may actually return at eight-and-a-half. Joy.
Anyway, her latest interests include building things with screws, nuts, and bolts. I found a cheap set at Tuesday Morning, where you can build a motorcycle, go-cart, and airplane. We built the go-cart together last night. She liked sorting all of the parts to make sure she had everything, using the codes to figure out which pieces went where, and screwing on the “nutmegs” (as she jokingly called them).
I’m pretty certain that she hates ballet. She told me she almost fell asleep at the barre last week. Since SHE’S the one who asked for another year of it, I’m making her stick with it until Ballet 3. Then we can reevaluate. She’s actually very good at it, because of her attention to detail. My hope is that she’ll get over this tedious part and want to continue. Otherwise, it’s two years of tuition down the drain. Speaking of tuition, I found out that her art school offers scholarships, so that helps.
My favorite remnant of Rites of Passage is that Mooch cooks several nights per week. That is such a big help. We’re going to have to revisit hair washing, though. :-/
FUSS
Fuss is learning the sounds for “r, c and b.” Her focus lately has been on the globe, the sensory items — like shakers, bells, and rattles, and the locks and latches activity. She seems to enjoy figuring out how to open things, which is evidenced in her picking the locks and cracking the codes around the house (i.e. someone’s pad got hacked into). For more about homeschooling, click here.
The antibiotics have worked well on her tooth in my opinion. There is no more puss and she seems to be in way less pain. She still does weird stuff with her top lip (it’s also dry, though), and she still very cautious. Hopefully when she goes back in December, they won’t need to pull it. Although, I’ve researched some options in case they do.
She is much better about letting me do her hair now — depending on the style and the length of time it takes. I’m considering more oil, because she seems to be dry all over — hair, lips, face. She has a LOT of hair. A lot! We’re working on it.
Her interest in music is growing by the minute. She is able to name the artists of many songs just by listening to them. It’s kinda creepy. She also copies what Mooch does in ballet, makes up her own songs, and seems to have a non-stop soundtrack going in her head. The soundtrack is, of course, interlaced with her frequent chanting of “99%,” which she picked up listening to KPFK (Pacifica Radio) during our morning drive to drop Mooch off.
I’m mildly concerned with her tantrums. While they are brief, they are definitely frequent. The whining and tantrums are much more pronounced when Hannibal is around. Can you say, “Wrapped around her finger?” I’m happy that they have bonded well. He is definitely a baby wearer (like, with no carrier, though). She’s always in his arms.
Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Broken Teeth
FUSS
I found out today that Fuss may need to have her tooth extracted. She fell a couple of weeks ago, and it just isn’t healing properly. Damn hardwood floors! They’re so beautiful, yet they are so dangerous for the little ones. Fuss is so independent and headstrong, and over the past couple of weeks, I’ve watched her hesitate when trying new things. Her accident really scared her. She reaches for my hand now when she’s walking down the stairs instead of saying, “I’ve got it, Mommy.” She makes sure to take her socks off before entering the house now, so she won’t slip.
She will bounce back. The puss oozing from her gums is only temporary, and soon she’ll have a permanent tooth to fill the space if the tooth is pulled. It just kinda sucks. Her smile is one of my favorite things. Fortunately, smiling is one of the things she hasn’t stopped doing — even as she periodically utters, “My teeth hurt, Mommy.”
MOOCH
Mooch has become quite the artist over the past few weeks, embracing a new side of herself to overcome the pain caused by abandonment. She’s graduated from refrigerator art with her new therapeutic venture. I was motivated to go to Aaron Brother’s and purchase actual frames. The first one hangs just inside the hallway outside of the kitchen. She also painted a David Hockney inspired surf board piece, which will likely hang in our bedroom.
I’m very proud that she is handling her increased workload at school very well. Mooch is becoming more organized and analytical. Her morning and nightly routines have been fairly maintained, and she has been earning Baba Bucks to shop our home store.
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