Randomness

A Plug For Noah’s School

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

If you live in our area and are looking for great school for our kiddos–consider The College School.  When looking for a school for our kids–we knew they wouldn’t go to public school–I looked long and hard at a lot of private schools and we have a lot of them in our city.  There was one that stood out among the rest.  We choose to send Noah to The College School.  It isn’t the biggest and it isn’t the most diverse (but it’s more diverse than it was without Noah).  But we are so happy with school as is Noah.

Here’s their mission:

The College School engages children, ages three to fourteen,
in joyful, meaningful and creative learning
through an adventurous, theme-based, experiential curriculum.

Our diverse community works as a partnership,
cultivating excellence in academics, character and collaboration,
as we prepare our students for life-long learning,
service and citizenship.

It’s a great school.  Our open house is this Saturday the 14th from 12-3.  Stop by and see the kids experiencing life and learning.  Hope to see you there.  Stop by the Big Bend room and say hi.

Not This Year

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

I am sad to say that this is the first year that I won’t be doing NaBloPoMo.  I am sad but also a little relieved.  As busy has my life is and has been, I was terrified of this month.  But then I decided I wasn’t going to do it.  How liberating that was.  I will try to post as much as I can this month–because I miss it so but I am not putting pressure on myself to post everyday.  That would just be too much.

This past weekend was a blur–Halloween, which is now Zoë’s favorite holiday.  After we finished trick-or-treating because Noah wanted to be done, Zoë demanded “more houses” and we went out for another 7 or 8 rounds of “trick or treat.”  She thought it was the most amazing thing ever.

My little girl is going to be 2 tomorrow.  I can hardly believe it.  As it really does feel as though we were just in Ethiopia to bring her home.  How quickly it all goes.  She had a party this weekend which of course she thought was awesome as well.  I’ll get some pictures up tomorrow from Halloween and Birthday.

How Smart Do We Think We Are?

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

I know there are those who think we are the smartest, most evolutionarily savvy organisms on the earth.  Well, I have to say that the Flu is smarter than us–all 400+ strains of it.  I will first start by saying–I don’t get a flu shot.  I will also say I didn’t get my kids a flu shot this year nor did I get them the H1N1 vaccination.  Why you ask?  No it isn’t because I am a bad mom and want them to get sick.  It’s because I believe that they are gonna get the flu whether or not they get the shot.  Last year the scientists picked the wrong strains of flu and the shot was virtually worthless.  We were lucky and no one at our house got sick. This year flu season is in full swing in reality but theoretically it hasn’t started yet, and we already have thousands of cases of flu.  My kids and hubby both got it as have half of my sons friends at school (the good majority who got flu shots already) and all of the kids at my daughter’s daycare.

I am a firm believer that germs are good and that we are evolutionarily well suited to adapt.  This year was the first year that Noah has gotten sick and it is also Zoë’s first illness of note since being home.  I cringe at the news with all the hysteria of H1N1 and flu vaccine shortages.  When I grew up there was no flu vaccine and I survived just fine.  You’d think we’d have learned our lessons with what has happened with antibiotics and how viruses and bacteria adapt as we attempt to eradicate them, leaving us with drug protocols that don’t necessarily work.

So did you get a flu shot?

Let Me Dust This Off

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

I have been absent from here so long that the dust has piled up and they are ready to board up the windows and hang a condemned sign on the door.  It isn’t that I don’t have anything to write about–it is almost that I have too much to write about and most of it stems from my work with charter schools and my PhD program in education.  Much of it wants to be written about but I am a bit tired of being on my soapbox (I find myself there often in my PhD classes).

I have been busy.  I just returned late Wednesday night from back to back charter school conferences and it has led me to become increasingly frustrated with my job and the limitations I have placed on me by those in power.  I want to do more–to serve our charter schools more.  But the academic politics are too much and are difficult to navigate and even more difficult to change.

The kids are doing awesome.  Noah is flourishing at school.  He is a real boy and is quickly having to learn to not be such a physical boy.  But it is hard as boys really appear to be hard wired for that and that hard wiring doesn’t seem to change–watch a group of guys together and they are bumping into each other and punching each other “in fun” and then we wonder why our little boys do it.  Of course we then wrestle with them at home, etc.  He is just learning to navigate the social norms that we demand within a polite society.

Zoë on the other hand–what a pistol she is.  No is her absolute favorite word.  It is her go to answer.  Her default.  It’s pretty funny when she says no and then has that moment of realization that maybe that wasn’t the right answer.  She is talking more and more each day.  I can’t believe she is going to be two in just over a week.  Unbelievable.

Life is busy and I am exhausted–both mentally and physically.  I miss it hear–so please don’t condemn it just yet.

Hello Old Friends It’s Been Too Long

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 4 Comments

There just hasn’t been as much time for you as I wish there was.  I know that being busy isn’t an excuse for ignoring friends, but it is all I have at this moment.

I am working slowly on the kids’ newsletter as Zoë is getting ready to turn 2 in less than a month.  Can you believe it and there has been much talk of a birthday cake–“yello kikky” (hello kitty) birthday cake no less.  I am ready for it to be here so that I can stop hearing about it.  It is very sweet though.  I’ll ask her if she wants a chocolate cake and she’ll say “Nooooo, yello kikky.”  Too cute and such a total girl that one.

Noah is busy at school learning all kinds of things.  His language is really taking off-even more than it was–and his teachers so often comment on his ability to hold a conversation.  I am sure this has nothing to do with the fact that neither of his parents ever stop talking.  He has friends and it is such a great environment.  Everyone knows everyone–he can walk into any office at the school or past any of the teachers and they all know him (as well as the other students).  I am so happy with our choice of school.  I love the first name use and there are no Ms. Miss. Mrs. or Mr.’s in Noah school. It is great for community building.  I grew up calling our friends parents by their first names, as well as my aunts and uncles and then I had parents who wanted to be addressed by their first names, etc.  It is just that added bit of personal connection that is so important.

My school on the other hand is growing like the blob and more often than not smothers me to near death.  But I am surviving and next week is the 1/2 way mark of the semester.  I can make it.  Only 8 more weeks.

So, what’s new with you?