Plant a "tree".

Today Ivana was attempting to plant last year's broccoli bush! As the weather was so gorgeous she was asking me when we were going to start planting in our garden.

When Iwas growing up we had a garden. And it was a garden that our family of five really relied on for veggeis and fruits. We labored all spring turning over the dirt and planting, all summer watering, most of the fall harvesting and making preserves. The garden was not for leisure, it was a chore that we had to do. We had about a quarter of an acre which was on a rather steep slope. And watering in the summer wasn't with a garden hose, but with a bucket! There was a stream nearby that usually dried up by the end of the summer, but before it did, it caused me and my brother and sister a lot of trips up the hill with two full buckets of water. At the end of the summer we used to collect rain water into the barrels that my Dad had got from work. Harvesting was usually fun, as we got to eat fresh strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, red and black currents, tomatos, plumps and apples. That was the time to enjoy them, since those yummy things would no longer be available at home, but mostly left for making preserves only! We had spent hours and hours in nauseously hot kitchen helping Mom to cook homemade jam, pickle all sorts of veggies, make saurkraut, etc. If by the end of September we had plenty of preserves, a couple of sacks of potatoes from our garden, a sack of sugar, a sack of rice and flour, we were gonna have a good winter. Garden was a chore. And I hated it! I hated it, hated it, hated it! My arms were hurting after watering, my back was hurting after weeding, I was simply tired making all those jars. I loved winters!

And now one of my dreams is to have a garden!Not as a chore, but for leisure. Our landlady has let us use a tiny patch of land for gardening. So it's been a couple of years that we've been planting tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zuccinies, and my two absolutely favorite herbs, basil and parsley.

So Ivana remembered us planting the garden last year and is looking forward to this season. And we have a hard to believe story to share!

Usually we'd buy ready plants at the end of May, but last spring I decided to have some fun with Ivana and start from seeds! We had collected enough empty egg cartons and other plastic containers to use for this purpose. It was a bit messy but a really fun to do project. We arranged our "babies" on the open porch on our second floor. Ivana would water them and check every day if they had sprouted. And then a couple of days later I noticed that someone was digging in the dirt. I kind of thought it was Ivana, somehow sneaked out without me noticing. Very unlikely, but whatever. Who else? I fixed the dirt, and again next time I noticed that someone was digging in the containers, dirt all over the porch and in some cases the seeds were missing. As I knew for sure this time that it could not be possibly our daughter, I started suspecting an animal. A cat? Sometimes we had a cat stop by and rip our garbage bag if I happened to leave it on the porch overnight. A squarrel? We have plenty of them in the park, but never seen any near our house. Some kind of bird? I would've heard the banning noise against the windows if it was trying to escape. It was a mystery! We were gone for the weekend and came back to a complete chaos! There was nowhere to step! Dirt all over the porch, ripped plastic containers, no sign of any seeds left, and what's more... plenty of funny smelling surprises in Mirek's working boots! It was one very smart animal having a lot of fun!

We were bewildered!We kind of had a suspecion of the animal capable of doing that sort of mess...But in the city? You've got to be kidding! Until one evening Mirek saw him coming up the stairs probably hoping to find some more seeds to dig and some other fun to have. It was a racoon of a huge size! Mirek had scared him away, emptied up the porch and brought a trap. We've never seen him again. Aren't they smart? I guess he went back into that sewer he'd come from.

So today Ivana was asking me if the racoon was going to come for a visit this year. I hope not!

Washing dishes and thinking...

Lately Ivana has been drawing our "future" house, and her "future" dog, and her "future" cat, and her "future" room that she is going to share with Leona. On a couple of pictures there were only three people. I asked her who they were. She replied that one of them was her, of course, then Leona and Daddy. So I wondered where I was and that's when she said, "You are washing dishes, Mommy!" Ha-ha-ha... Am I really washing the dishes too much lately? Or has it always been that way? Well, I love washing dishes! It's relaxing for me! That's the time when I tend to think about the things that bug me and come up with solutions. That's my time to meditate. That's simply my time. Even when I used to work as a babysitter, there was a dishwasher in the house. In two years I'd used it only once. After the Thanksgiving party where 40 people attended. Other than that, every dish was scrubbed by my hands! Other women have the pedicure and manicure done, and I have the dishes and thinking done!

So, again I was using the chore to think about my confusion with finding a homeschooling groove. And then it happened. I got it! As TheThinking Mother and my other blog buddies have mentioned that there is too much out there, that some curricula or method might work for other families, but not ours, that one has to try and see what works best. I got it! It was too much!
And it's not that I'm incapable to make a choice, I just get overwhelmed by the process of choosing! I can not stand going to the mall. All that crowds of people make me feel dizzy. I don't like to shop in big stores and go through a mountain of racks with tons of clothes. It makes me dizzy. One day my girlfriend was complaining about being overweight. She said, "I'm so fat! There is so much food around me! You know how it is, growing up with all the food around you to try!" Duh...well... hmm... Actually, I don't! There were times we had to stand in line to get bread and milk when I was growing up!

So maybe getting overstimulated with the abundance is my disability lingering from my early childhood! "Less is more" is my motto. Less toys for kids stimulate their imagination and creativity, less food on your plate keeps your waist line thinner, less watching TV gives you more time to spend with your husband in the evening, and so on. But I guess all that is now available for homeschooling and about homeschooling is a good thing! Probably those families that had started this wonderful journey two or so decades ago would tell me, "I wish we had your problems! Be grateful for everything that there is out there. We were the pioneers and look how far we've gone!" I am grateful!

When one day we get to own a house I don't want to have a dishwasher...Or, maybe I can use it just after the holiday dinners?

Getting ready for Easter!

I don't think I have a "herding problem", but sometimes I put the things away hoping to use them up later. So just in case, I was putting aside the empty toilet paper rolls without having any particular idea of what to do with them. And as I was just about to discard them all, since they were taking up too much so needed space, I came across one project that required just that! And what's more, it was for Easter! A wreath!

It took us two days working on the project and we had so much fun doing it. First the girls painted the rolls with the acrylic paint. We decided to stick with the pastel colors for the spring motif. There was no way Leona could be left out from doing that activity, I took a deep breath and set her up by the table. Only later I found out that acrylic paint in NOT washable, so that turtleneck was completely ruined. And of course her hands were all in paint, her face, her hair.

While they were working on the rolls, I took care of the frame for our wreath. I took a wire hanger and bent it into a circle. As the advantage of using the acrylic paint is that it's fast drying, we managed to arrange the rolls on the frame the same day. I cut an opening and slid the rolls into the wire and then taped them all at once from the back. Next day we were working on coloring easter eggs printouts. For some reason Leona was choosing dark colors, like black and deep blue, so her colored eggs didn't make it to the wreath this time. But Ivana did a splendid job picking brighter and more uplifting colors and then decorating some of them with stickers.

Now the wreath is proudly displayed on our door, and it makes me smile every time I see it.

Do they call them "footprints"?

This weekend we went to the Poconos again. I find it so refreshing and calming to be there, that 90 minutes drive does not bother me at all! The girls are excited to go to our country house, and I know the way so well that can probably get there with my eyes shut. And we've even been playing with the idea of moving there permanently. There are two things that are holding us back, two major ones I'd say: Mirek's job and homeschooling.

As Mirek works for himself, it should not be such a big problem. But to establish clientele it took him five years working hard in NJ, so he doesn't want to let it go down the drain. And as I've learned that PA is one of the five states that are so- called "Red Flag States" for homeschooling, it holds me back. As for the other part of the convenience of having everything at your fingertips, I guess you just get used to driving everywhere instead of walking.

We were at the lake beach and Ivana was teaching Leona how to spot and recognize the footprints. There were footprints of deer, geese, wild turkeys, dogs and humans. Then she asked me, "Mommy, why are these called footprints? Deer don't have feet, they have hoofs, dogs have paws, and only people have feet." It got me thinking. Why a "parkway" is called a "parkway", and a "driveway" a "driveway"? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? And why "American Football" is called "football" when the players are carrying the ball in their hands, and European football is called "soccer", when all the players are doing is actually kicking the ball with their feet? Life is full of absurd things, and our responsibility is to teach our kids how to coexist with them.

I guess from now we'll be calling deer fotprints "tracks". Or maybe that's what they are actually called...

Daddy's girls.

Last couple of weeks Mirek has been working long hours and coming home pretty late. Two previous Sundays he had to work as well. Ivana and Leona missed him a lot, and yesterday evening didn't want to let go off him. I thought they looked so sweet together and took a picture.

Where do I start?

There was so much to read on the Carnival of Homeschooling , that I had troubles processing all that information and ideas. I had to take breaks and go wash dishes, or put the toys away, or put the laundry on the line outside. Then I'd come back and read more. And again I needed some time to digest all I'd read. I've never had problems falling asleep, and the last two nights I just couldn't close my eyes. Everything was so mixed up in my head that I felt like I was drugged up!

Now I feel that things in my head are settling down slowly and I feel...empty. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? I was ready to get more encouraged, enthusiastic and inspired. But I feel empty, lost, overwhelmed, scared, doubtful...

I've checked so many homeschooling blogs and read up on how other families do it. And I started to compare... We've never bought any software or video games to teach Ivana shapes, colors, letters and numbers. She knows them anyway just by me reading books and spending time with her. We picked up once a book in the library "I can count 100 bunnies, and so can you" (don't remember the author), kept it for a months and she learnt to count to 100 and recognize the numbers everywhere we go. One of our favourite games is "A license plate game". When we go to the park, store, library, bank we stop by every car, and Ivana tells me the numbers. Then I showed her how to say 3 digit numbers, and she was so excited to pass the 100 border. A couple of times we saw a car with 4 digits, and with sincere curiosity she asked me how to say those.

We've never used any flash cards or posters for the wall with letters or numbers. And I have only one book to teach her to read in Russian. It's a specially designed book for that purpose, though, but it's our only resource to learn to read. And she is thriving! Every day we sit down on a sofa for 20 minutes (Leona right next to us, trying to imitate Ivana) and practice. Ivana has been doing so great lately, that she doesn't want to stop. She easily reads 3-4 syllable words, full sentences and short stories. And Russian alphabet is not Latin, but Cyrillic, so think of another 33 letters to memorize for that little brain.

The other day we were doing our own clay beads. In the morning we rolled the clay into different shapes, then I put them into the oven to bake to harden. After lunch we started decorating them, painting different colors with acrylic paint. Leona fell asleep right next to us, put her cute little head on the table and dosed off. And Ivana was so concentrated coloring her beads, that she didn't ask any questions for about 20 minutes. So we were both busy doing our stuff, and occasionally she'd whisper a comment on my design and ask for my opinion on hers. It was just priceless! I felt so comfortable doing that simple activity with my daughter. At that moment she was my best friend. That kind of friend that you are comfortable with being silent, when you don't have to search for another topic to keep the conversation going and feel awkward in silence.

I have not picked any curriculum or looked at any. I have not thought about the plan for the next year. I have not identified myself with any homeschooling method. I have not signed her up for any homeschooling workshops. I have not found any Homeschooling Convention to attend. I feel that I've done a lot preparing myself for homeschooling our kids, but not enough. Unwillingly I have planted a seed of doubt in myself. I feel empty, lost, overwhelmed, scared, doubtfu... I will not let that seed sprout! No way!

Good news from Ethiopia!

Last summer we started sponsoring two children from Ethiopia through the Christian Children's Fund. Since adopting a child is not feasible for us right now, and we always wanted to make a difference in other less furtunate kid's life, we thought that would be a good alternative.

It didn't take us long to chose the children. All the children referred to that program qualify, as their parents earn less then $400 a year. So it didn't really matter to us, we decided to pick a girl and a boy.

The boy's name is Sisay Degifa, and he lives with his farther and mother in the capital, Adis Ababa. So he is a city kiddo! He is 7 years old and goes to the first grade.

The girl's name is Sheyte Abdela, and she lives with her family in a very rural countryside. She is 10 years old and helps her parents a lot with the chores.

So, a couple of days ago we received letters with the news and updates about "our" children. Both of them are doing fine and enjoying there winter school break. Not too much enjoyment for Sheyte since she helps to take care of the household.

It's amazing how much $24 a month can do! The child has clothes to wear, food to eat, health coverage, and is allowed to attend a school. How ironic! We are not sending our kids to school, but very happy for Sheyte and Sisay to have that opportunity, because this is their only chance to learn. Their parents have too much to worry about just to survive, in most cases are illiterate themselves.

And for Christmas we decided to send an extra money gift to both families. So that what the latest letters were about. The families were expressing their warmest thanks. They wrote that Sisay got a new suit, shirt, shoes and a tie, and enclosed a picture of the boy wearing it. He looks so handsome! Smiling, and I guess enjoying the feeling of beeing dressed up! That's a "city attitude", you've got to look trendy!

And Sheyte got extra clothes and shoes as well. But what made us especially happy was the fact that the Abdela family are very practical! For the remaining money they've decided to buy a ... goat ! For breeding! We are talking business here! And we also have a picture of the whole family with the "star" upfront!

It gives such a wonderful feeling knowing that somewhere so far away, in a place that we would probably never visit, live people whose life will be a bit better, a bit easier, a bit happier just because we are thinking about them! And it teaches our girls a lesson of kindness. Ivana has been "writing" letters to Sheyte and Sisay, drawing pictures for them and sharing her stickers. When Mirek brought the globe, she asked where Ethiopia was. And before she was putting her quaters away to buy a plane ticket to go to visit grandparents in Czech, and then she changed her mind. She said that she'd send the money to our friends in Ethiopia. It might not be much, but the thought that what really counts. And I guess we'll match it up!

You can check out their webpage at www.ChristianChildrensFund.org

12th Carnival of Homeschooling!

Here is a wonderful collection of articles about homeschooling http://phatmommy.com/
I guess I'll have a sleepless night! All that reading makes me so excited!

Immigrant parents' thoughts on homeschooling their American kids.

We haven't mentioned anything to our families abroad about our intention to homeschool our girls yet. It's a long process to bring it down to them and make them trust and respect our decision.

We are a trilingual family, the first generation of immigrants to the US whose English language is NOT a mother tongue, want to homeschool our children. Why?

There is no simple and short answer to it. I and my husband haven't been schooled in the US, and we are not familiar with the system from the first hand. I loved going to school in the former Soviet Union, and my husband totally disliked his school experience.

But since we've been living in the US, we've been very vigilant to the surrounding us social environment, and we are growing more and more into the idea of attached parenting and homeschooling. My husband is a self-employed contractor. So he gets to see a lot of families, thier lifestyles and relationships. And in most cases those are very pitiful families. There is very little or no respect, love, communication, understanding, compassion in a family. Kids from "better" neighborhoods go to the "better" schools. But what is "better" if students in one of the high schools in Marlboro, NJ are taught to subcontract their homework and essays to other students for a fee. Supposedly that's teaching them "business relations". Absurd... And when the WTC was going down, one high school student said, "Oh, my God! Is this going to be bad for the ecomony?" That was all she had said, as my husband was a witness! Shocking...

Did we have doubts about us being capable to pull it through? A recently watched report done by John Stssel, "Stupid in America", had become that "drop" we needed to decide for sure that homeschooling is the right path for our children and for our family. We have no doubts anymore.

I've planted a seed of homeschooling into my head about two years ago. I've done a lot of reading and research, met with homeschooling families, given ourselves a trying period to see how we can handle this, and how our children respond to this. I don't believe it'll be easy, but difficulties have never scared me.

And now we won't have to await our children to come home with trepidation hoping that today it was safe in school. Now we won't have to spend hours and hours of tedious homework and then try to really teach them something about the world we live in. Now we won't have to find a way how to squeeze quality family time into their busy schedules. Now we won't have to worry about the negative influence of the peer pressure and the need to be dressed into the brand clothes to be admitted into the "popular circle". They'll know that not blending in but rather standing out is a good thing.

Recently, I've read an excellent book that gave me a vivid picture of what the schools are about in the US. "Dumbing Us Down. The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", written by John Taylor Gatto, an award-winning teacher of 26 years in Manhattan's public schools. And he raised a good question:

"...What is the purpose of mass schooling supposed to be? Reading, writing, and arithmetic can't be the answer because properly approched those things can be taught in less that a hundred hours-and we have abundant evidence that each is readily self-taught in the right setting and time. Why, then are the kids locked up in an involuntary network with strangers for twelve years?"

Wealth dominates the schools in the US. There is a major segregation of working poor and well-off families. In reality kids do not get the real picture of the social structure of the society, but rather a distorted one. So why the first question about homeschooling is always about socializing. And what about it? Modern schools are not the right place to acquire that skill. Participating in real life and learning from that experience is. "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand", wrote Confucius.

Discovering meaning for yourself, and discovering satisfying purpose for yourself, is a big part of what education is. How can this be done by locking children away from the world? Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual. It should teach you how to tackle the challenges and grow, it should make you spiritually reach, a person who loves whatever you do, wherever you are, whomever you are with. It should teach you what's really important in life.

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten", B.F. Skinner.

Spring is in the air!

These are the first flowers in our mini garden.

They made my day!..

How I 've got not to like fairy tales!

I used to disagree with Mirek on the issue of reading fairy tales to our girls. When I was a little girl I used to love fairy tales. I didn't read a whole lot of them, and my favourite one was "Cinderella" (not the Disney kind, of course). I'd daydream of becoming a Cinderella and trying on a glass shoe and dancing with a prince. My fantacies were innocent. I didn't want to be a mean step mother or dumb and jealous step sisters. I wanted to be what's the best in the fairy tale, what had the most magic and joy, I wanted to be a part of a "happy end".

Mirek was telling me about his dislike of fairy tales when he was growing up. That he'd rather read adventure books, or books about Native American tribes and their culture and traditions. So, I took the "fairy tales issue" as a boy/girl difference in interests.

Ivana loves fairy tales. She loves to play dressing up and chose to be a Cinderella for last Halloween. We went to see "Cinderella" show in the theater, and it was all innocent until... As a gift we got a "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" videotape from our friends. Now what do I get to blame for teaching my daughter to play "A poison apple! Sleeping death!" game? Why did she get attracted by the evil side of the story, rather than kind? Why did she prefer to imitate the cackle of the queen's changed voice and pretend that her hands are all wrinkled and warty instead of singing happy Snow White's songs? Why does she think it's funny to let her little sister bite into a red apple from our frig and make her pretend she's falling on the floor? "Ha, ha! Her breath will still-her blood congeal. Now I'll be the fairest in the land!"

We've been telling her all these years that the characters in the fairy tales are not real, that they are all a product of somebody's imagination only. Now, is that game just Ivana' s way of excercising her own imagination, and what are the long term effects of her watching these kind of stories? Are they really beneficial for her developing personality and what are they really teaching the little kid about the world?

I put the videotape away a couple of weeks ago, and there was no more "poison apple, sleeping death" game. Instead, I decided to concentrate on really educational tapes for them to watch. A friend from our homeschooling group let us borrow a few tapes about artists. We've watched "Leonardo Da Vinci', "Monet", "Degas and the Dancer"already, and there are so many other wonderful stories to watch from these series.

Now Ivana is not running into the other room and waiting for the episode when the Huntsman is about to kill Snow White to pass, but happily dancing with a little ballerina Marie from the movie "Degas and the Dancer". A red delicious apple is not being served to Leona as a "poison apple". And I think "that" tape will not be having a come back!

A trip to the beach.

This morning our landlady's son came by to install the window guards. Since more and more parents tragically leave the windows wide open, enough for the little kids to fall out from, now it's a law that if you live on the second floor or up there have to be window guards. Our landlady told us that she didn't want to be fined, and would have to put the guards. We were kind of hoping that it'd take her a long time , and we'd move out before that. Apparently not... And now we have even less light coming in because of these ugly black (and in my opinion useless) window guards.
They say "never say never", but in our case we were very vigilant about having the windows open. There is no way Ivana or Leona can open them, they are quite heavy. And whenever I wanted to have fresh air (with all the street fumes and smog!) I'd open the windows from the top. In the morning as I was looking at the guards, I wanted to start packing!

So, not to waste such a gorgeous day and get aggrevated about not being able to live in a nicer place, we went to the Newark Museun, park and then beach.

I grew up by the Black Sea, and I absolutely love the water. And now I don't get to see the sea and hear the waves every day. As a matter of fact, we haven't been to the ocean in about seven months! All the winters before we had gone to the beach at least a couple of times. It was always so refreshing to see the grey-blue craziness and get soothed by the sound of the crushing waves. And before the kids I found it to be very romantic to play snowball fights with Mirek and chase each other and roll in the snow, again to the accompaniment of the waves.

Now the guards don't bother me that much as I'm thinking about our today's walk on the beach. The sun was already setting, it was a high tide, and the water was coming closer and closer, and we had to go further and further away from it in search for the shells and other ocean treasures. We didn't find anything special worth keeping, besides a few shells that Ivana wanted to put in our fish tank. But the time we spent together as a family was priceless. I'm always trying to keep in mind this saying: "Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift".

So, why to worry about these ugly black (and in my opinion useless) window guards?..

One man's trash...

...is another man's treasure!

Last week Mirek brought two huge black garbage bags full of ... well ... garbage! He had started finishing a basement for the client, and the place was full of stuff that was not needed by the previous owner anymore. And as Mirek has gotten my "schooling" about being recourseful and giving things a second chance in life, he just couldn't put those things into a dumpster!

And now we have a globe! In great condition, probably barely used. Mirek's passion is geography and we've been thinking about getting one. He was so eager to show the girls all the places they'd talked about before. Now Ivana remembers the places on the globe where her grandmas and grandpas live.

And we also have a microscope! Our curious four year old was sooo thrilled and ready to look at the germs and bacteria. Well... it's not that type of a microscope, but we had so much fun with it on the weekend! There were a couple of ready samples like a feather, a tiny piece of nylon, seeds from some kind of plant. But we didn't stop on the ready samples. We took a thin coating from the onion (both of us remembered doing that in school). We compared a human's hair with a dog's hair. We scraped some orange peel. Mirek shook off a couple of dandruff flakes (yes, we are that crazy!). I wanted to see if we could find the dustmites on the fibers of the carperting. No luck there... Then Ivana found a dried out bee. We tore it's wings and put under the microscope. We got so excited! Mirek checked all the windows and found a lot of potential material to examine: a moth, a mosquito, a lady bug, a fly. What we liked the most were the legs of the lady bug. Hairy! I guess we'll never look at this cute bug the same way!

Well.. sounds like we are one untidy family, right? Wrong! We were in our house in the Poconos, and the used to be alive insects got stuck between the windows and the screens and dried out.

It was the firts science class at our "school at home"...

My children are my teachers.

Staying home with my girls and homeschooling them is not a one way ticket, it's a round trip. It's amazing how much I've learnt with them and how much they are teaching me not even knowing about it!

Things that I've learnt thanks to my daughters:

My life without them would've not been to the fullest.
My life without them would've not had so much love.
My life without them would've never showed me my true self.

Things that my daughters are teaching me. How to...

...enjoy living in the moment;
...be happy with what you have rather than with what you want to have;
...to be patient and have self control;
...admit making mistakes and move on without feeling guilty;
...be flexible and see what they enjoy doing rather than what I think they should enjoy doing;
...have fun together doing simple things;
...look at everything I say and do from their point of view;
...not to have high expectations and get disappointed;
...give them as many hugs and kisses as I can sqeeze in a day.

And I hope and pray that we'll continue to enjoy the wonderful journey of homeschooling in the years to come!

Amazing human body.

Ivana has been asking questions about how our body works for some time already. And it became more and more challenging to answer them since she wasn't satisfied with the answers we were giving her. So we visited "Body Wars" exhibition at the Newark Museum and then gave her a book "Uncover the human body" for Christmas, so we can learn together.

We've read that book a couple of times and it's a very visual one. As you turn the pages it gives a three-dimentional look inside the human body. It's a book and a model, you turn each page and uncover a new layer of understanding. It's recommended for ages 8 and up, but she seems to enjoy it. And then at the library she spotted "The Magic School Bus. Inside the human body" by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. Then we borrowed another book from thew same series that explores the senses.

As an expansion activity we traced the page from the book and Ivana colored all the organs. She just loved doing it and insisted on sending one "picture" as a get better note to her best friend who was sick. It's so funny to hear her talk about the red and white blood cells, plasma, blood cerculation and food digestion. She asks me to bend down so she can see my spine, or looks at Leona's hands trying to see her veins. She comments on the food going down the esophagus, then to the stomach, small and large intestines evry time we are having a meal. Mirek had a cut on his finger and she comforted him by saying that platelet cells would make it heal soon. Then she asked...
"Mommy, lets play a game."
"OK. What game?"
"I'll be the oxygen and you'll be carbon dioxide!"
"Hmmmm... how do you play that?"

Well, Ivana could not come up with the rules and neither could I. So Mirek was very helpful and suggested a different game. He was a white blood cell, Leona was a virus and Ivana was a bacteria. He was chasing them around, of course skipping the white blood cell's "function to destroy" the desease germs.

Today we had another round of tracing and coloring the human body. Leona demanded to do one of her own. "Me too deebee dodee!"(human body in her language). And this time Ivana was especially interested in the heart and asked me if her heart was ever gonna stop working.

Well... I guess we'll leave that until she is a little bit older.

Hitler liked blue eyes...

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. I took a bit too much upon myself and the time came for my "batteries" to get recharged since they've started running on low.

Since we live in the city I have the convenience of walking to the stores, bank, post office, library, park, etc. Everything is at my fingertips. So I'm so used to walking every day that when the weather doesn't permit to go for a walk it takes toll on my levels of energy and mood. Last week the girls were not feeling well, it was bitter cold, so we were home most of the week. And of course this week I could feel it!

Today the sun was out and the sky was bluer than blue. My body craved the vitamin D and my skin needed to be reminded how if feels when the wind brushes up against the cheeks. We headed to the park. The little ones were on the swings for a while and then on the slides. Ivana was running around chasing a pooch, burning extra calories after a very substantial double breakfast. I happened to have a couple of nuts in the pocket of my jacket and that came in handy. The squarrels were so hungry they were snatching the nuts from my fingures. And then it seemed that they gave us that sad look when there was no more nuts.

We didn't stay for too long, just enough to get revitilized again. And I needed to just stop by in the library to return a book. As I came to the library steps it was a bit of a challenge to lift a full double stroller. I managed somehow to drag it up, and then all of a sudden that boy appeared. I was puffing and buffing trying to catch my breath and the library was closed for another couple of minutes. The boy was about 12 years old, I'd say. He seemed to be very polite and complimented the girls on their blue eyes. Ivana's and Leona's eyes have more green than blue, but it didn't matter. He said that he wished to have had blue eyes. Well, it seemed a bit bizzar to hear that from a boy, and then he made sure those were not contact lences. "Kid, they are 2 and 4 years old!..." I wanted to say, but said that he had beautiful hazel eyes. Still he insisted that blue would have been his first choice. I wondered about the reason and that's when his answer just stunned me. "Because Hitler liked people with blue eyes. He said that those who have blue eyes are special people and that they get blue visions. Do you get blue visions?" he asked me... Hmmm..."Well, I don't and the color of your eyes does not make you "a special person". It's who you are makes you a special person", was my reply. The librarian came down to unlock the doors and proceeded to get that chain hanging on the gates that had prevented me from using the handicap accsess with the stroller.

And then the unthinkable happened... It's not that easy to open the door and to push the stroller through, so people always help me or I ask Ivana to hold the door if it's not too heavy. This one was heavy for her, definetely not for a 12 year old. The boy had seen me struggling with the stroller before and this time he walked past us and as I was preparing to enter after him the door practically slammed into my face. OK! Then he was standing by the elevator and just watching. Watching me struggling again. Trying to hold the door with my foot and pushing the heavy double stroller through. And then there was another door. I had to repeat my manoeuvre. He was still standing and watching by the elevator. I looked at him and he was looking straight at me. He wasn't hiding his eyes, there was no shame, no remorse. "Opening the door for us would've made you that special person", I said. "Not the color of your eyes." There was something in that look after my words. Or at least it looked like that.

I just hope I made him think. If we were just a little bit kinder towards each other, the would've lived in a totally different world.