Bling and Bingo

Last week my daughter cheered for the last basketball game of the season. She truly enjoyed learning the cheers, shaking the pom poms, and yelling in her cheerleader cone. They had said that the teams would be getting medals at the end of the night, but we had no idea that the cheerleaders would too.

The above medal is what was presented to the girls. It’s pretty heavy duty bling. It is no cheap medal. It weighs about 3 pounds. She was so proud to show us when the game was over.

She made many friends through cheer and she cannot wait to do it again next year!

On Monday, I was back at her school to volunteer as a “Watch Dog” again. Just like before, I got to be with her class first. I got to help the kids plant their seeds for a science project and then I got to play Bingo with them. They’d send three kids at a time over to where I was and we played.

It wasn’t like normal bingo with the letters BINGO and numbers. These were small cards with pictures on them. I had a bag of tiles with all the pictures on them and I would pull from it to tell them what to look for. A – for apple. L – for Lion and such. The teacher gave us a bag of stale marshmallows to use as bingo chips. We played until everyone got a Bingo and the switch to the next three students.

I then went to the third grade room and played a St. Patty’s Day word game with the next group of students. They had to tell me each sight word they landed on. This was followed by lunch, which I got to eat with my daughter.

She didn’t want what was for hot lunch, so I made us both peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I brought yogurt, some goldfish crackers and drinks. She likes to mix chocolate chips in with her yogurt, so I made sure to bring some of those. I always get a chuckle out of the small tables they sit at. Somehow I always get in and out, with some effort.

After lunch, I went out for recess. It was crazy windy out and the playground was a bit wet. The kids had to stay on the blacktop, which was really no fun. I swear the winds were gusting 40-50 miles an hour. I couldn’t believe they had the kids outside. I was standing out there and that wind hit me from behind and it was all I could do to not fall over. I was happy to come back inside.

I then got to spend time with the other kindergarten class, They were in gym first, and we played a St. Patrick’s Day game where you had to run and find the gold coins for your team. Once back to their room, I played a counting game with the class. My final class of the day was the fourth graders. They were in music class during my time.

I didn’t really do much, but I enjoyed listening to them playing songs on the recorder, sight reading a song they’d never seen or played before, and finally, watching kids play solos in order to get their “belt.” The awards were colored like karate belts. White belt was the easiest song to play, yellow was the next step up, then orange and so forth. It took me back to the days when we had music class in elementary.

I enjoyed a short chat with the music teacher before the end of the day, and then went to grab my daughter to go home. I signed up to do this once a month and I truly enjoy being there and doing this. It is special for my daughter and I, and also special for some of the kids. One girl asked if I would hold her hand as we walked back to the classroom. There were kids who had to give me a hug before I left my session. I’m not sure what it meant to them, but it sure made me feel good.

I’m already looking forward to next month.

A Mood Changer

Pardon me while I become “toddler dad” for a minute…

When you become a parent, you lose the option to watch TV … at least when your kids are awake. Most days I watch all the PBS shows (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum) or the various stuff from Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. (Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, Peppa Pig). My favorite is Bluey.

I blogged about the show (and primarily the dad – Bandit) here:

I Wanna Be Like Bandit!

One of my favorite episodes is entitled Bad Mood. In the show, Bluey’s sister (Bingo) is in a “bad mood.” Bandit, Bluey and Bingo’s dad, IS the bad mood. It is signified by him wearing a Viking Helmet and walking with Bingo standing on his feet. He grunts and stomps through the house destroying block towers, ruining drawings, and throwing things.

Now there have been “a few” times when I have been at work and I’ve been in a “not so good mood.” I have joked with my co-workers that I need to get myself a Viking hat. No one really knew what I was talking about, so I showed them clips from this episode. Whenever a computer would crash or something didn’t work, I’d say something like, “This is when I need my ‘bad mood’ hat!”

One of our crew is transferring to another department and tomorrow is her last night here. Tonight, she said she was going to run out to her car for something. She came back in and was holding this Viking hat, which had two blonde braids hanging down from it. She told me that she wanted to get something to thank me for all the laughs we’ve shared working together.

It made me laugh out loud when I saw it. It also made me sad. I really have come to enjoy the nights that we work together. She loves music and we’ve shared a great many stories about songs and artists. She is also very funny and there are times I am laughing so hard my sides hurt. I am certainly going to miss having her in the building.

I told her when she gave me the helmet that it really won’t be a “bad mood” hat. Mainly because when I go to put it on, I will think about her – I’ll laugh – and that will put me in a good mood.

Thanks for your friendship, your conversation, and the many laughs, Laura! You will be missed, especially by me!!

The Omelette

Confession: I’m 51 and I love cartoons.

I have blogged about the cartoon Bluey before, and yes, I am blogging about it again. The third season of Bluey is still unavailable for viewing in the United States. There are some ways around that by changing your VPN or some other “tech” stuff I don’t understand.

I happen to belong to a Facebook group that will occasionally post some of the videos. As I held AJ this afternoon, I saw that they posted a cartoon from season 3, so I watched it. I literally laughed out loud throughout the episode, and at one point almost cried. That’s just one of the reasons I love this cartoon.

The episode is called “Omelette.” The cartoon starts with Dad (Bandit) opening his eyes to see his wife and two daughters looking at him. It’s his birthday, and they tell him they are going to make him breakfast in bed. He states he is hungry and mom suggests getting a move on, because when dad is hungry – he gets cranky. I can totally relate to this! Maybe it’s a guy thing?

Anyway, in the kitchen mom starts to make a “fast omelette” and tells Bluey to set up the table (the tray) and Bingo to make a birthday card for dad. As mom turns around, there is 4 year old Bingo. She tells mom that she made a card for dad at school and shows her. She then asks to help make the omelette.

First, she grabs the eggs, and as she walks to the counter, she drops about half of them on the floor. After cleaning it up, they attempt to crack eggs. She is not hitting the bowl hard enough, so mom tells her to try harder – which leads to another mess. After that mess is cleaned up, something happens where Bluey spills juice and that needs to be cleaned up.

Mom’s phone rings and it is dad asking how much longer breakfast will be – because, you know, he’s hungry! This totally cracked me up. I can see myself doing that. She tells him it won’t be long decides that Bingo should let mom just make the omelette. Cut to dad in bed ….. obviously getting more and more hungry (and cranky).

Mom whips up the omelette and is ready to take it to dad. She notices Bingo is pretending to play with two nutcracker salt and pepper shakers. Mom is watching as she basically tells the one salt shaker she’s “not good enough to help” with things. Mom now realizes that Bingo is playing out exactly how she felt when mom told her that she couldn’t help.

Dad now enters the kitchen and is begging for food. Mom tells Bluey to get dad back in bed and keep him there. He sees the omelette and begs to eat it. Mom tells him its not his and Bluey and dad are off to the bedroom. It’s pretty funny to hear Bluey tell dad to “Stay!” – they are dogs after all.

Mom then asks Bingo to help make the omelette, which makes her very happy. There is a montage of messes being made, borrowing more eggs from neighbors, phone calls from dad, more messes, more egg borrowing, and eventually – a pretty nasty looking omelette. They take the omelette to dad who wolfs it down in seconds!

He announces it was the best omelette he has ever had.

I’m not sure why I related so much to this particular episode, but I did. For some reason, I connect with this family and these characters. I also learn from them. Dad (Bandit) is the dad I want to be. He plays with his kids, often times more than any dad I know. I strive to be like him with my kids.

This episode was kind of a slap in the face to me (amidst the times I laughed at Bandit). Let me explain. My wife is all about letting the kids make messes. I’m not sure why, but when she does that, my anxiety levels go through the roof. One time, she gave Ella Jello or pudding and just let her play on her high chair. Jello and pudding was everywhere! What a mess that had to be cleaned up.

Last week, she bought one of those blow up pools. We don’t have a bath tub, so she filled this thing in the middle of our kitchen. There was water everywhere. Ella had a blast, but I could feel myself going crazy with anxiety! “The water is going to go through the floor to the basement!” I thought. “We’re going to ruin the floor!” My mind never stopped racing about those things.

When mom realized that all Bingo wants to do is help, she lets her – no matter how many messes had to be made. I need to step back and read the kids. I need to let them make messes. I need to let them help. The look on Bingo’s face and the excitement she shows when mom asks for her help – that is what it is all about.

Without it being an official New Year’s Resolution (because I don’t believe in them), I think this year, I’ll let the kids break a few eggs …..