Mira Archives - Page 3 of 36

Nov 1, 2013

No Wind, Nor Rain or Bus Woes, Shall Stop These Heroes…

…from getting their CANDY.

For some strange reason, the weather prediction of a 100% chance of rain and high winds up to 50mpg during trick-or-treat didn’t persuade the city to move the annual candy grab back a day or two, like most sensible counties around us did.

Instead, they changed the trick-or-treat time from 6:00-8:00pm to 5:30-7:00pm. Because moving it up half an hour when the rain was scheduled to arrive around 4pm would make ALL the difference.

Our trick-or-treat was further hindered by school bus delays. (Again.) It would seem one overturned semi-truck on a highway that their bus doesn’t even travel on is enough to stop all traffic in the city. Columbus has no concept of how to drive in the rain.

Around 5pm, another parent tweeted me that he had received a robocall that all buses were running an hour or more late due to the single accident in the city. I was thankful to know where the kids were, but wondering why we hadn’t received the same robocall? I contemplated calling Transportation, to be That Parent again, but knew it would likely be pointless since there was probably no one there.

At 5:30, right when trick-or-treat was starting, the bus pulled up. And at the same time, the phone rang with the robocall regarding the bus delays. Too late.

We ushered the kids in quickly, sat them down for a few bites of dinner before letting them skip the rest and hurry into their costumes. Instead of two hours of trick-or-treat, they only had one and a half hours now, and they were anxious that they’d miss out.

Holding their pumpkin buckets for the loot and umbrellas to fight off the wind and rain, they ventured forth into the storm in search of free candy.

At first, Mira nearly blew away with her umbrella as the wind caught it before we left the driveway. We didn’t make it a block before she handed me her umbrella and said she’d rather get wet than keep dealing with her unruly windcatcher.

Cordy held her umbrella high, enjoying the struggle against the wind as she believed she had the super powers to use the umbrella to fight off the weather.

They didn’t make it as far as they usually do before the damp penetrated their costumes and they were weary from trying to remain upright when the wind pushed them every which way.

But they still had buckets full of candy, so the night was declared a success.

And because we’re days away from election day, I’ll also ask locals who are Columbus City Schools district residents to go check out the site I’m helping out with:

Filed Under: Cordy, holidays, Mira ·

Oct 21, 2013

Is My Child Hearing Ghost Voices?

By Christina ·

“Mommy, did you hear someone say hello?”

Mira walked over to where I was sitting and asked that question. She had been standing by the door, watching for the bus, and just before that I had noticed her head snap up from looking at her feet, as if slightly startled, followed by her looking all around as if she had heard something.

“No. I didn’t hear anything,” I replied.

She looked lost in thought, somewhere between puzzled and frustrated. She took a few steps back to the door, looking out again to make sure no one was out there. “Are you sure you didn’t hear anything?” she asked again.

“Yes, I’m sure. Did you hear someone say hello, Mira?”

She nodded her head, frowning. “I was standing by the door and I heard a voice say ‘Hello’ quietly but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.” Then she added, hesitantly, “Sometimes I hear things that my friends can’t hear, too. They don’t believe me when I tell them I heard it.”

At this point I was curious as to what she’s been hearing. I asked her to tell me what she hears that others don’t hear. She told me she often hears someone saying her name, quietly but clearly, although sometimes she hears other things and can’t always tell what the voice is saying. It’s happened at home and at school, when she’s by herself and with others around her. She was hesitant to tell me the details, and I think she worried that I’d think she was crazy.

I then asked her what the voice who said hello sounded like. Was it a girl’s voice or a boy’s voice? Did the voice sound nice or mean?

“It’s a scratchy voice. I can’t tell if it’s a boy or girl. It’s a little weird, but I don’t think it’s mean. It kinda sounds like Mr. Invisible Man’s voice.” She then tried to imitate the scratchy voice, which sounded totally creepy to me.

Mr. Invisible Man was a make-believe nuisance that we blamed much of her clumsiness on when she was younger. The kid has a natural ability for tripping over nothing, falling down unexpectedly from a standing position, and dropping things even with a strong grip. Never would I have thought that Mr. Invisible Man now had a voice that she recognized, or that he was actually real to her.

Way to start out a morning, right? Especially so close to Halloween!

I could see she was bothered by this (and I was starting to get uncomfortable as well), so whether or not I thought she was actually hearing voices, I wanted to give her some comfort. I suggested that maybe the voice was her great-grandma Polly (Aaron’s grandmother), who passed away almost a year ago. Polly was a woman of strong faith, and equally strong devotion to her family. “Were you thinking about grandma Polly recently?” I asked.

Mira’s eyes brightened a little. “When I woke up, I was thinking about when we played a game with grandma Polly at the restaurant.”

“Maybe that memory brought her closer to you, and she wanted to tell you hi so you knew she was still with you?”

Mira thought about that for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, even though she’s gone, she’s not really gone ’cause she still lives in our hearts. Maybe my heart called to her and so she came to say hi.”

Oh, my sweet girl.

I think she felt better knowing that I took her seriously and didn’t think she was making it up or crazy. She told me more about how this may have been grandma Polly saying hello, but she’s been hearing voices say her name before grandma Polly had died. At that point, the bus arrived (the one time I wish it wasn’t later than it already was!), and she skipped down the driveway to go to school, completely unfazed at disembodied voices greeting her.

I got both kids onto the bus, came back inside the quiet, empty house, and immediately felt creeped out.

Mira is a little girl with very deep thoughts. She ponders this kind of stuff all the time. Cordy has few questions about death and is scared of it, but Mira often asks about death, the idea of a soul, and remaining close to those we love when we die.

When I told Aaron about the morning’s events, he reminded me that Mira somehow has a strong faith in some kind of god, even though we’re not particularly religious. We’re a mixed-faith family, with Jewish/Christian backgrounds and Unitarian/atheist/agnostic beliefs, and generally want our kids to choose for themselves if they want to have faith or not.

And while she knows and will tell us that monsters and zombies aren’t real, she draws the line at ghosts and believes they are very real. No matter what we tell her, ghosts are real. And Santa Claus – he’s also still real for her.

Does Mira have some kind of a gift to hear ghosts, or is her imagination running away with her in the Halloween spirit? I don’t know. But I believe that she believes she hears them, and so I’ll respect her belief. As long as she doesn’t feel threatened and isn’t frightened, I’ll support her and help her try to make sense of it if she wants my help. Or I’ll let her explain it to me if she’d rather. She’s the one hearing things, so she’s the better judge of what she’s experiencing.

This happened last week, and she hasn’t mentioned it to me again since then. But since then I’ve become more aware of when I hear her talking to herself – short, one-sided interactions of a few words here and there. I wonder if she’ll continue to hear the voices or if she’ll grow out of it?

I’ll admit that this freaked me out a little. Not only that it brings up questions of unseen forces, but also if it’s somehow real, I want to know who is speaking to my child.

Has anyone else had a child that admitted they saw or heard things that others couldn’t? How did it affect him/her, and did he/she grow out of it?

Filed Under: Mira ·

Sep 19, 2013

Mira’s Fashion Mantra: Always Look Fabulous

By Christina ·

I was never into fashion as a kid. I had colors I preferred and liked some graphic t-shirts over others, but generally I wore whatever was in my dresser. And aside from a brief period with jelly bracelets and those plastic charm bracelets, I didn’t wear jewelry or other accessories. Having to wear more than the minimum needed to get by seemed like too much work when there was playing to get to. Besides, wouldn’t want a necklace or scarf to catch on a branch when I was tree climbing or diving out of swings or flipping over monkey bars.

Mira, however, seems to have the recessive gene. The more accessories, the better: hats, necklaces, bracelets, hair clips, rings, makeup, bright socks…she loves them all. Rarely do we get out the door each day without her asking if she can wear one accessory, or more if I’ll allow it. She’s still six, though, and easily loses those accessories, so I limit how much she can wear.

That doesn’t stop her from taking inventory of everything in her jewelry box regularly, looking over all of her shiny pretty objects and trying them on to make sure they still fit. I still wonder how she got the “girly” gene that I missed, but it’s cute watching how happy she gets when she dresses up.

The other night, I tucked Mira into bed as usual. We leave her light on in her room while she falls asleep, then turn it off when Aaron and I go to bed. When I opened her door to turn her light off, I noticed her radio was turned up much louder than when we left the room. This is also a common scenario – she sometimes likes to relax with louder music before she falls asleep.

Then I looked over at her and realized she didn’t look the same as when we put her to bed:

Flower garland, ring, bracelet, and (hard to see) two necklaces.

I guess she felt the need to play dress up after hours, and fell asleep before she could put it all back.

In the morning I asked her why she had so much jewelry on when she fell asleep.

Mira gave a shy grin and replied, “What? I wanted to be pretty for sleeping!”

That’s my girl: always striving for awesome.

Filed Under: Mira ·

Sep 12, 2013

Open House Night at School

By Christina ·

Two nights ago our elementary school held their annual Open House, where we found out about plans for the year, got pitched for PTA volunteer work, and had the chance to meet the teachers and see the classrooms. We go to this every year, even though we generally have met the teachers and know a lot about the classroom long before this date.

This year’s event wasn’t as well attended, probably due to the heat. The school has no air conditioning and is a brick building with small windows, which transforms it into a brick oven by the end of a 90+ degree day. Even after sunset it was still over 90 degrees inside the building.

Mira had gymnastics scheduled at the same time, so only Cordy and I were at the school. We walked in and strolled the halls before things got started. Well, I strolled. Cordy skipped and bounced down the halls, despite the heat. Her teachers, current and previous, were nearby. One asked, “So is she always this chipper?”

“Generally,” I responded, “Unless she’s had a long day and there’s no one around but close family.”

“Does she wake up this way?”

“Yep, she springs out of her room at 6am sharp every morning, fully awake and ready to go.” I could see the weary look to my response. I understood. I added, “She doesn’t get that from me at all. I move slowly in the morning.” They murmured similar sentiments to waking up.

Mira’s teacher then saw me and asked, “Is it just Cordy with you?” I nodded. “Mira must be at gymnastics then.”

“Oh, did she tell you she had gymnastics tonight?” I asked.

She smiled. “No, but she talks about it ALL the time, so I guessed that the only thing that would keep her away from school would be gymnastics!”

It seems she already has my younger daughter figured out.

We sat through the PTA meeting, then set off to see the classrooms. Cordy was giving me the guided tour as if I had never been there before:

“This is our school library, where we can check out books. It has fiction and nonfiction sections.”

“Thank you, Cordy, but I’ve been here several times, remember?”

“And this is my teacher, Mrs. C. Mrs. C, this is my mom, but you can call her Christina.”

“Yes, sweetie, we’ve met before. You were there as well.”

I gave up and played along for awhile, pretending it was all new to me.

Her reading teacher told me that Cordy continues to be an advanced reader, but she’d really like for Cordy to choose more challenging books in the classroom. When given the option, she’ll always go for the easier books because they’re familiar characters and storylines. It’s true, most of what she reads is far too easy for her. We all question if she’s even reading the content considering the speed with which she turns pages. But if you quiz her, she can usually tell you what happened. I agreed and promised to nudge her towards higher level books at the library and in her monthly Scholastic order.

I read through Cordy’s writing journal and noticed that she talked about what a “bother” her sister was more than once. Then we were invited to go see the biographies that were posted in the hallway. Kids had paired off and interviewed each other in class, then wrote a bio about the other person. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised by what the other kid learned from Cordy:

You may notice that she really wants the class to know about her little sister.

We met briefly with the special needs teacher, who expressed her joy that things were going fairly well for Cordy so far this year. The bus is still arriving late each morning, which upsets her, but otherwise she’s only had minor problems that were easily redirected. The teacher told me that she gave Cordy a “Take 5” card to keep with her at school. If she’s ever feeling overwhelmed or just needs a break, she can flash her Take 5 card and visit the special needs classroom for five minutes. She knows she can’t use it to get out of doing an assignment, and so far she’s not used it much.

I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am that we’re not getting calls home about Cordy hiding under her desk or having outbursts at school. So, so happy. It’s such a relief.

Her special needs teacher did let me know that Cordy was getting frustrated in math, and the math teacher had spoken with her about ways to get through to Cordy. So I then went to visit the math teacher’s classroom. Cordy came with me for a few minutes, then she realized we were going to discuss areas where she wasn’t doing as well and asked to go hang out in the library for a bit.

Unlike Cordy’s reading teacher, who was her teacher for reading last year as well, Cordy’s math teacher never had the chance to work with her beyond a single assessment last year.

The math teacher started by telling me that Cordy has great logic and is easily capable of doing everything they’re learning in class. But, she then said that every time she introduces something new, where Cordy doesn’t immediately recognize how to solve the problem, Cordy shuts down and won’t even try it.

I knew what she was describing before she even finished telling me – it’s a common pattern of behavior for my oldest. I explained that Cordy is a perfectionist with severe anxiety over getting anything wrong. So if she sees something new that she’s unsure of, she’d rather not attempt it at all and protect herself from making a mistake. Cordy was also saying that the teacher hated her because she didn’t do perfect work. (Which distressed the teacher, since it wasn’t true!)

We chatted a little more about strategies to help her, and I promised I’d be in close contact to provide any suggestions or help I could to work past it. Her math teacher then told me a funny story about Cordy. (Everyone in the school seems to have one.)

The kids were sharing their answers to a homework word problem, and Cordy found a different way to do it than many of the other kids. The teacher asked her to come up to the front of the class and explain her method, since others might find it helpful as well.

Cordy did come up, and told everyone how she got her answer. Then she turned to her teacher, smirked and said, “How ya like me now?”

Oh, that kid.

Then it was on to Mira’s classroom. Her teacher was Cordy’s first grade teacher, and someone I went to high school with, so we’re familiar with each other. She told me Mira loves to be at school, and loves to read. I was surprised by the second part of that, but she assured me that Mira asks to read when she’s done with her work. Maybe she’s finally getting over her own stubbornness about reading?

Of course, the real subject for discussion was Mira’s, uh, discussion. Her teacher tried to gently say that Mira has a lot to say and loves to share with everyone. I brushed past the politeness and acknowledged that little girl never stops talking. I’m not kidding, either – anyone who knows her knows how rare it is for her to be silent. School is the greatest possible place for her, because it forces her to learn to hold it in and carefully consider what’s important enough to say with the small amount of time she’s given to talk.

But despite her chatty nature, she’s doing well in class. She’s very social, loves to participate (a bit of a know-it-all, really), and really loves being at school. We need to work on reminding her to wait her turn to talk, to not be overly affectionate (she hugs everyone, multiple times a day), and to try to hold her emotions in when she encounters something difficult or has an unpleasant change of plans. There’s no crying in schoolwork.

Overall? The open house reinforced that my kids may be a little quirky, but there’s no doubt that they stand out and they’re doing well at school. Cordy may have trouble being social, but everyone remarks on how cheery she is. And Mira, well… Mira will be running that school by fifth grade, if not sooner.

Filed Under: Cordy, Mira, school ·

Aug 28, 2013

She’s Ready For Her Close-Up

By Christina ·

Over the weekend we spent a day with some friends at a beautiful house out in the country. We look forward to this get-together every year, and the kids get excited as the day gets closer, wondering what fantastic toys will be waiting for them this time in the giant backyard.

Mira was especially drawn to some of the dress up toys this year. About halfway through the day, she appeared from the house in costume, and remained that way until dark. Several other kids were wearing costume bits and pieces, too, as they took up plastic swords to defend the play castle in the middle of the backyard. Mira had a lot of fun playing “storm the castle” even though she insisted she was a superhero, not an invader.

I went into the backyard to take some photos of the kids playing. Mira was walking away from the castle, taking a moment to enjoy some lemonade. Then she saw me, and realized I was taking pictures.

And then this happened. First, the recognition: