Why I Volunteer in My Kids' Schools

Every Wednesday I go to either my son's school or my daughter's school to spend a couple of hours volunteering. Where do I go? To the library. A few years ago when Amanda's school began recruiting helpers for the library, I knew that it was right up my alley. I am not PTA-Mom of the year. I don't feel it necessary to do everything every time. Additionally, when Kyle was a baby, he wasn't welcome in the school during instruction time, so my options were limited.

However, there are a lot of reasons why I do think it's worth my time to volunteer in my kids' schools:

• I get to know their classmates. When I was at Kyle's school early on in the year, he proudly introduced me to his girlfriend.
• I see how they act around their classmates (and how their classmates act around them). Think that your tween girl is a spaz? Spend time around other tween girls and you'll find out how normal she is.
• I get to observe what the kids are wearing. Perhaps I've balked at Amanda's choice of attire (modest, perhaps -- but odd at times!), but seeing what the other kids are wearing is a good barometer of the fashion scene, such as it is.
• I get to eavesdrop on conversations of other kids as they walk around selecting books, changing classes in the halls, etc. You can learn a lot by being an invisible adult.
• I can learn the secret language of Kindergarten. When his class sat down, they were told to sit "Criss cross applesauce," which I know is the PC term for "Indian style" (which I probably only learned after observing in Amanda's preschool class). But a few weeks ago, I learned a new one; "Spoons in the bowl" for "hands in your lap."
  
• It's an easy way to support the school, the staff and the teachers.
• My kids like having me there, and taking time to be there for them makes them feel special.
  
• On the flip side, by not saying yes to everything every time, I also show my kids that I leave room in my life for other commitments as well.
• Oh yeah, and did I mention that I get to hang out with books for a couple of hours? You don't have to twist my arm for that one.
  

Children's Books for the Holidays

This month's topic for Children's Classics at 5 Minutes for Books is Celebrating the Holidays -- any book, any holiday. Of course with Thanksgiving and Christmas being right around the corner, I'm sure that's what most people are going to be suggesting.


However, I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend the National Geographic Holidays Around the World series. They aren't technically classics, but with beautiful photos by National Geographic how can you go wrong?

Celebrate Independence Day offers pictures of people enjoying picnics, fireworks, and other summer fun. It also gives a simple explanation of why we celebrate independence day. The end of the book offers "More about Independence Day" including how to have a three-legged race, a look at independence days around the world, and a recipe for deviled eggs.


I've also seen Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which is a great way to learn about how these Jewish holidays are celebrated around the world.

In addition to the holidays mentioned above, this series does explore Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. Although I haven't previewed those titles, I'm sure that they are beautiful and inspiring.

Safely Home

I just finished reading Safely Home, Randy Alcorn's novel about the persecuted church in China. As most novels are, this one is about so much more than one thing. In addition to an American's slow realization that life in China is not always as the government portrays it, Alcorn's novel is also about the reunion of two old college buddies, the breaking apart of a marriage, and as most good novels are -- a person's discovery of a part of himself that he didn't know existed.

Several people commented about their love of the book when they saw the book on my Nightstand list last month or in my "Currently Reading" section on my sidebar. It took me a while to get into it. Li Quan and Ben Fielding had been roommates at Harvard. Li Quan had returned to his humble roots in China and Ben Fielding had become everything that he wanted to be in the business world. They lost touch, but Ben Fielding regained contact with his old roommate as he planned a long visit in China in order to do market research for his company.

I enjoyed watching the story unfold, predictable as parts of it were (Ben Fielding coming to realize how far off the path he had strayed, and Li Quan having to prove his faith again and again). One part of the book that I didn't particularly feel was well done was the interaction of those in the spiritual world. I definitely believe in a Spiritual Realm that is active, however I think that this could have been left to the imagination. I found it to be distracting. I think that the end of the book, left as is, could have accomplished the author's intent there.

However, it did make me think hard about my impression of heaven and what a perhaps different reality is, which I'm sure was the author's intent.

A friend lent this book to me because Terry and I have recently begun working with the international students at a local university. Our church as well as a couple of others in the community provide a meal each month as well as other activities to help ease the transition for these students who are mostly from Asia (China primarily).

I had been wanting to learn more about their culture, and since most of them are not Christians, I don't think that this is the culture that they've experienced, so I'd actually still love any recommendations of novels set in contemporary China.

Today our church recognized the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church. My experience with the novel made it even real to me, so as I finished reading it this afternoon, it was with the reality of the risk that so many take to follow Jesus heavy on my heart and mind.

At the end of the book, Randy Alcorn disclosed that the proceeds from this book go towards funding the persecuted church as well as providing Bibles for those who have a hard time getting them.

I will also match any of my associates earnings from any sales of Safely Home via my links here in this post (a few cents per book) and donate them towards the same cause.

Have you read this book? How did it affect you?

What I'm Watching Now

I've decided that on Fridays I'll be writing about TV, either what I'm watching or to begin a dialogue about something you're watching. You can click the TV and Movies label to read my past posts if you are so inclined.

Since the first two seasons of Lost are on Netflix instant access, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. I was reluctant, because I've heard talk over the years about die-hard fans getting frustrated -- at the plot or the cliffhanger breaks, but I figured that I can watch on DVD all the way through to the end and avoid those pitfalls.

Honestly, after the first two episodes (the two-part Pilot episode) I was still undecided, but by the fourth show, I was pretty invested. I'm not buzzing through them, but I am definitely curious and interested.

Earlier this week I was at a blogger event in New York, and my blogger friend Kimberly from Mom in the City was talking TV with the person on the other side of her. They were talking about a show that they just loved, so I had to know what it was. She answered, eager to bring me in on the conversation: "The Good Wife -- do you you watch it?"

Actually I have started watching that show. Terry and I were in New York City before the fall season started and were bombarded with the serene picture of The Good Wife on buses and bus stop kiosks on every corner. I wasn't exactly sure what it was about, but I didn't think that I was interested in watching a patethic woman standing by her man who was walking all over her.

A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone, and she mentioned that it was one of the new shows that she was watching. Terry was out of town that night, and it happened to be on, so I tuned in and enjoyed it. The cast interested me: Josh Charles, who I have liked ever since I watched him in Sportsnight, along with Rory's boyfriend Logan (Matt Czuchry). It stars Julianna Margulies who looks beautiful and does a great job, but since I was never an ER fan she wasn't one of the actors who drew me in. Christine Baranski is also a part of the ensemble cast, and she's always amusing to watch.

It's actually a legal drama. Yes, the main character is "standing by her man" (or not, actually) -- a political official who was recently taken down in a public scandal involving extra-marital women and also illegal actions that have landed him in jail. So, she has to start again -- leaving the tony life of a Highland Park housewife to return to practicing law.

Since I liked it, I caught up by watching the episodes online (all of them except the pilot were still posted at that time).

The show is on at 10pm Eastern, and honestly that's just too late for me. I usually turn out the light around 10:45 or so, but if I'm watching TV, I inevitably fall asleep. So apparently the way that I'm going to watch TV is online, because as I've mentioned, I do not have a DVR and I don't like the idea of paying $6 a month (or whatever it is) for the rest of my life on top of my high DirectTV bill.

But The Good Wife is one that I will keep watching, as well as taking in episodes of Lost when I can squeeze them in.

What about you: What are you watching now??

Celebrating with Girlfriends

Since we are now almost a week into November, I can no longer even claim that it's my birth month. It's all over. However, I did enjoy it.

I didn't post about the celebration that I had with my girlfriends last week, but my friend Lee did. She told me that she had so many great pictures of me, so I'm wondering why the one she posted makes me look addled***. Maybe that's what 39 looks like?? Anyway, her post is very aptly titled "It's a party, and I'll eat if I want to." Check it out.

The food and the company was excellent. Seriously, everyone should get together with girlfriends as often as they can. In addition to eating, we embarrassed the tween with a little bit of singing just like we did at our grown-up sleepover party.

We also watched a movie, which still feels like an indulgence to me. We watched Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. It wasn't exactly the happy-go-lucky chick flick that I was expecting. The plot descriptions are fairly accurate (which I obviously didn't read carefully!), but instead of it being a "tender mother-daughter love story" as described, the three of us saw it as destructive and dysfunctional. Lee knew exactly what it was about, but Nicole and I did not. The acting was fabulous, and I'd still probably recommend it, but you should be sure that you know what you are getting into.

What does your favorite girlfriend time look like?

***Edited Friday to add a link to Lee's post number two, with cake and gifts and even more (less-addled) pictures of me.

Pajama-ed, the Day-Off version

So, it's 10:45 am and Amanda and I are still pajama-ed, whereas Kyle got dressed, so that he could play Wii without guilt or further expectations.

Yes, the kids are off school today. Because it's election day and the schools are in use for voting, it's a teacher workday. After being in school for two months, we are ready for a little day off.

We have absolutely nothing on the agenda other than hanging out, watching TV, and relaxing. Actually I'm doing some work-from-home, and it's a goal to get out to the grocery store, but our hope for the day is to keep it low-key.

+++++

Are you a Louisa May Alcott fan? Check out the 5 Minutes for Books Classics Bookclub where our readers could read a book of their choice by Louisa May Alcott.

I also recently posted my review for the third book in the Mother-Daughter Bookclub series, Dear Pen Pal. Please check it out. I have enjoyed reading these books so much. After meeting some school reading goals, Amanda finally picked it up on Sunday and has raced through it.

As always, there are several book giveaways up on 5 Minutes for Books. Check them out!

A Trip to Asia

Terry was gone for 7 days last week on a business trip to Asia. He doesn't usually do that sort of traveling, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to do it this time. It involved several very very long flights. First he flew on an overnight 15 hour trip from NY to Mumbai, India.

Then a few days later he took another overnight flight ("only" about 7 hours) from India to Singapore. This was his sky cubicle. Pretty cool, huh? Look at the cute stewardess's uniform.


A short flight from Singapore to Hong Kong a couple of days later, and then only one day in Hong Kong, where he took the 15-hour flight home in a sky pod -- walls giving the person complete privacy. The TV flips out over your lap as well.

As a busy mom, all of that would have been quite pampering.

India

No thank you -- I'll stick with bottled water!

India is so very poor (and this is nothing -- he said you could see people's "homes" situated all up on the hillsides). It reminded me of the recent trip the Compassion Bloggers took to India. Like Terry's co-workers on this trip (who travel widely), they agreed that it was the poorest place they've seen.

This is a deceptively quiet and beautiful shot. In reality, it's people everywhere, and see the driving shot below.

Singapore

The mirrored building on the right (center) says Lippo, which means Koala, and if you click and enlarge, you can see that it looks like a Koala.

Singapore was beautiful. My sister spent over a week there on business last year, and she agreed.

Hong Kong

This is a Popeye's chicken, which we don't even have in Connecticut -- in Hong Kong!

Terry didn't get to spend much time in Hong Kong, but he liked it too. He brought Kyle one of these thin, tall, trolley buses as a souvenir.

Speaking of souvenirs, two of his coworkers had to buy this snack for their children, because they've gotten it on previous trips and loved it. Terry was skeptical, but he thought it was quite unique. And look -- the children on the back of the package clearly love it:


My children? Well, Amanda said that it tasted like salmon, and it's true, it was a little salty fishy tasting.


Kyle, not so much:
The dog loved her first few bites, but then she left it on the floor.

What is this delicious snack? Dried seaweed!