Friday, April 13, 2012

Oh Mexico






Our first family outing to a vacation destination was a sunny success. Jeff and I had traveled to Cancun a couple of years ago on our own, but this time we had two families in tow. Carol and I have traveled to many far flung places together, but this was our first adventure with the girls. It turned out to be a great getaway for everyone. The girls went to a kids club on site after breakfast, and we usually picked them up by lunchtime. They had a great time doing crafts and feeding iguanas, while the parents crashed out on beach chairs, caught up on reading and much needed sleep. The kids club also offered a 'pajama' party during the week where the kids got to run around a carpeted conference room in the hotel, order dinner and watch movies. We got to go out and eat like adults at seaside restaurants, breathing in freedom of parents on the loose. A lovely time was had by all, not even spoiled by 2 hours at JFK immigration on the way back. Now it's time to start dreaming about the next trip!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Smarty Pants!



Every parent thinks their child is a genius. We all have our moments of boasting and bragging about how our child learned their numbers or colors or shapes. How they said something super sophisticated. How they seemed to understand complex situations. I have always believed all these things about Phoebe. My friends Debbie & Dan have often joked that they probably got her birth date wrong in Vietnam and she's really much older. Not so, but it does sometimes feel that my 4 year old is going on 14.

As we approached the next phase of her school life, we decided that we would not spend 30k or more a year on private school, but go for public school, and do our best to get into one of the gifted programs around the city. We are lucky to have a good school in our neighborhood and have been excited talking to the kids and families about joining them at P.S. 158 in the fall. We took the G&T testing more for the experience of testing than thinking we would be one of the few to score high enough for the specialized programs. We decided not to do any prep classes, but to just keep reading to our girl and doing puzzle books and brain quest on car rides. The day of the test, Phoebe seemed to have fun with her teacher. She came out with drawings and stories, one of the last to appear. And that was it.

Last night, we were informed that the scores had been posted. When I saw that she had gotten in the 99th percentile I just screamed with excitement and overflowed with pride. Now a new process begins. I have learned that over 900 kids in NYC have gotten into that 99%, so there are no guarantees that we will get into our chosen school. For now, we're just happy that it expands our options and gives my little smarty pants a chance at a better education.