The dreams of a 4-year-old

About 15 minutes after bedtime tonight, Alexander appeared in the kitchen.

Alexander: Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?

Me: (Expecting him to say "a firefighter") What would you like to be?

Alexander: (After pondering silently for a few moments) Are superheroes real?

Me: (Trying to hide my smile) No, they are not real. They are in stories. Maybe you could be a writer and write stories about superheroes.

Alexander: (Says nothing and gives me a grumpy look)

Me: (Ushering him back to bed) What kind of superhero would you want to be? One that can fly or run very fast?

Alexander: No, one that makes wheelbarrows.

I'm a Soccer Kid

I had so much fun in my SoccerKids class! Coach Shawn and Coach Janessa were so silly, but they taught us all about how to kick the ball, how to smush it while saying "stop right there, ball," how to shoot, and everything else we needed to learn to be great 4-year-old soccer players.

And I also learned to never use my hands!

But wait - there's more!

Of course we didn't just sit around in our pajamas reading books all day. We did many other fun things with Najm and Najp.

They took us to the San Francisco Zoo. We visited almost the entire zoo. We even went to the Children's Zoo and petted the sheep and goats. (We normally skip it with Mummy.)


It may not look like we're having much fun, but that's just because we didn't want to stop our fun to take a photo. After the zoo we went to the beach and tired ourselves out a little more.


Then it rained for the rest of the visit, so we played lots of games and put puzzles together too.

Najm and Najp

Last week Najm and Najp came for a short visit. We did lots of fun things together. We especially liked it when they read stories to us.

We miss you, Najm and Najp!

First Grade Recorder Recital

Now that my front teeth are no longer loose, I love my music class again!

We had our annual performance yesterday. I enjoyed playing and was proud of myself. I wasn't so nervous since we all played together. I did make one mistake, but no one noticed because my friends covered for me.




Mr. Y has been teaching us to play the recorder since we started Kindergarten. He accompanied us on the piano, then he played the electric guitar with the band. Maybe when I'm older I can learn the trombone, clarinet, or violin!

Ninth Symphony


Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

We also played Mary Had a Little Lamb, but that file ended up too big. You get the idea.

Ice princes and princess

One of the best things we did during Christmas break was to take the children ice skating on Union Square. Since it was their first time, and we had their friend Ethan with us, my friend Leona came along too.


After about ten minutes on the ice, I was worried that it had been a big mistake. Charlotte and Alexander were having trouble staying on their feet and were too afraid to take any risks. It was very difficult to help both of them at once. I though it would be a very long 90 minutes!


Once we realized that Ethan was quite comfortable (and fearless) skating on his own, we had one adult available per child who needed help. With a few rounds of one-on-one attention, they each became more confident and comfortable. Soon even Ethan was helping Charlotte make it around the ice.














It wasn't easy getting them to stop for a photo. They ended up having a great time! Alexander was practically the last one off the ice - certainly the last one in our group.


We hadn't even left the ice rink that day, and they were already asking when we could go skating again. They haven't stopped asking. Fortunately there is a year-round indoor rink in San Francisco, so we won't have to wait until next Christmas.

We finished our outing with a cup of hot chocolate. Yum. Thanks to Ethan and Leona for spending such a great day with us! And thanks to Leona for sharing her photos.

Being the Change

The kids tend to repeat much of what they hear. They have in recent months been known to chant "We Want Change" or "Yes We Can". I don't think they have any concept of what they want changed or what it is that they can, so I thought we would put those words into action and join the MLK Day of Service yesterday.

There weren't many events that were appropriate for children, and I hadn't signed up for any in advance, so we joined the drop-in site at Ocean Beach. Our job was to clean up the beach. We were given gloves, trash bags, and granola bars, and sent on our way.


There were possibly hundreds of volunteers, so there was not that much garbage for each person to collect. That was fine, because it allowed us to enjoy the beautiful day, dig in the sand just for fun, and appreciate the ladybugs we found in the dried seaweed.



We still managed to collect plenty of paper, glass, plastic, styrofoam, cigarette butts, and even a dirty old sock. I did not think that our contribution would change the world. Then we saw all the bags in one pile at the end of the morning, and it did seem like we made a difference together. That may have been the best lesson after all.


Thank you to Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring today's posting's title:

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.