Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Title Goes Here :)
We were busy bees today. Mooch had no time to shoot Tuesdays With Mooch (TWM), as we were preparing for the first day of school tomorrow. You know, hair, 1st day picnic, farmer’s market. Even Fuss was a little neglected today, strewing puzzle pieces and Cheerios here and there. Fortunately, she’s well into her homeschooling pattern and was able to go and get her activities with little direction. She still working on scooping, pouring, buttoning, and the sounds “mah” and “ah.” You may know them as the letters “m” and “a.” We’re doing sandpaper letter tracing and finding things that start with those letters.
Speaking of sounds and language, Mooch has been learning Spanish via Skype from a friend of ours, who is bartering with me for design work. She’s having a lot of fun. Those lessons are in the evenings while I’m preparing dinner. It is very cute to listen to her discuss her day in Spanish. She’s struggling with that double “r,” though. 
We should be back in the swing of things by next week. Feel free to watch her old videos here, and check out more about Fuss here.
Tuesdays With Mooch & Fuss: Therapy and Pre-School
Mooch has requested therapy, because she’s “grieving over her father.” This will be another expense tacked onto the many existing ones that he fails to take care of. He’s been breaking my wallet for years, and now the damage to my child is finally bearing its ugly cracks as well. She’s very upset and “determined to get over him.” Kaiser offers twenty-two sessions with a $15 co-pay for each. We’ll see how that goes.
Fuss tested out a co-op preschool today. I always like to do at least two to three half days per week from age two to socialize the children properly. I will still continue to homeschool her as I did with Mooch. She was the smallest kid on the yard, but she certainly stood her ground. The kids were very sweet, offering her hugs, flowers, and a chance to ride in a Flinstone-style whip.
Tuesdays With Mooch: Pats and Spats
Mooch isn’t the only one learning at her new school. The well-designed program has taught the rest of our family a thing or two as well. In addition to the “three gates” lesson, where she taught us to ask ourselves “Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” before we say things, she’s now taught us about “Pats and Spats.”
This is a time when she and her classmates get to sit on the rug and share their grievances and compliments with each other. The idea is that each student gets to choose another kid in class and air a problem that they have with them. They must first give the person a “pat” by saying something nice about them.
We decided to implement this at nuclear family gatherings. We don’t have planned, organized “family meetings.” We think it’s a little corny and contrived (well, I do, at least). We let conversations happen organically. They seem to be more productive that way. We tried something similar to “Pats and Spats” before and it didn’t go well. I’m not going to say why, but let’s just say I’m willing to play nice next time. 
Thematic Thursdays: Bento Lunchbox Crazy!
I thought making my daughter’s lunch everyday was supposed to feel like a chore. Ha! I love it. I get so excited about what I’m going to put in each day. I’ve turned it into edible art! Normally, I’ll be posting the bento of the week in the “Tuesdays with Mooch” blog, but given the creation I put together tonight, I had to post tomorrow’s lunch today (today’s lunch last night … whatever you get what I’m saying).
Anyway here it is! She’ll be stoked when she opens her lunch to find that I’ve turned her sandwich into Hello Kitty! Also, there’s surprise chocolate almond milk in the thermos instead of her usual water. That’s a plum if you couldn’t tell and also a nice healthy salad with vegan ceasar dressing.
My Hello Kitty Bento Masterpiece
Tuesdays With Mooch: Hello School!
Hello Kitty is the first thing that I think of when it’s back-to-school season. Cute little clicking Choco-Cat pencils, Keroppi folders and red pencil cases bearing that famous little cat all work their way through my mind. As a child I used to get so excited the night before school that I became nauseated. My Trapper Keeper had been stuffed with Pee-Chee folders weeks beforehand and each pencil had been sharpened at least ten times. The clothes were laid out on the dresser and my alarm clock was double checked. I love learning.
After homeschooling my little girl for the past five years, this September, she’s transitioning to private school. I’m more excited than ever before. Sure, she spent a couple of days per week being socialized at small Montessori schools every now and then, but I’ve been responsible for the majority of her education thus far. Now she’ll have the opportunity to have a little cubby with her name and picture on it, group projects, a huge playground and, most importantly, a classroom of 21 students with whom to share her learning experience.
I’ve been preparing for weeks. I waited to purchase school supplies, because her school said not to do it until her teacher did the home visit and sent the list to buy things. I guess my excitement spread to the community, because people just started sending Mooch gifts to start off on her new journey. Aunties, god-mothers and friends all sent stuff. Boxes just started showing up at the house with Mooch’s name on it. I think I cried a little, because these people did exactly what my mom would have done. We are very grateful.
Mooch opening a box from Auntie JaNai
Mooch has been ready to start school since we first met our host family and went to the New Families Picnic. Her teacher’s visit to our home last week was the icing on the cake. Mooch read to her and showed off her favorite toys. She introduced her sister and gave her a tour of our house. This week she has Make New Friends Day and then the students rush into campus Thursday morning while the teachers and administrators blow bubbles from the balcony. I’ll be sure to take lots of pics!
Her lunches are going to be off the hook! I’ll try to post a weekly pic of the best lunch to give you guys some lunch recipe ideas. She got a really cool embroidered Pottery Barn lunch box from her adult BFF. I got bento box compartments for it. She also has a laptop lunch box with flowers all over it. What a hippie, right?
The lunch box Carrie sent!
I know you’re wondering what grade she’s going to be in. Well … her school doesn’t actually have grades. It’s liberal. The grades are grouped in twos and labeled “Youngers,” “Bridge,” “Middles,” “Olders.” She’s in “Youngers” and her teachers are awesome! There are two teachers with credentials in each class.
It’s this Thursday! Yay! Of course her clothes are picked out, her backpack is packed and she has a fully stocked Hello Kitty pencil box. It’s the old school kind, where the pencil sharpener pops out and there’s an eraser compartment.
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