It takes a village

Today I accepted an award from the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs for Educator of the Year. I was flattered and humbled to be in the presence of people who dedicate EVERYTHING to help the community. As a young educator, I hope to be like the abuelita they honored today with a Lifetime Achievement Award, whose only words of gratitude were, "I love my students!" The keynote speaker was incredible. He is a Neurosurgeon at John Hopkins who came from Mexico as a child, was a migrant agricultural worker, and eventually became the 1st Latino valedictorian at Harvard Medical School. Wow.

Here I am with the wonderful woman who nominated me, Genny Segura (Policy Analyst for the MD Commission on High Education):



I sped back to school to prepare for the 1st Hispanic Family meeting of the year. I returned home to cook dinner, deal with the electrician, change clothes and go back to school for the meeting. It was a little unorganized, but our parents are so patient and grateful for the help. I was touched that they wanted to sign a petition to try to convince the school district to keep funding my position. I worked with some amazing teachers and got great feedback from parents. While Wall Street runs amok with greedy capitalists, it's touching to work alongside people who care about those in their communities. We all need to change the culture of education in this country. We can begin with accepting the belief that it really does take a village to raise a child.

It all works out

Today was one of those days I questioned my ability to be a good mom. I think I'm a pretty great mom on any regular day, but I'm constantly looking to be the best I can be. I don't operate in the same way some mom's do who buy all organic food, never let their kids eat candy or watch TV, have their kids in various activities through out the week and read to their kids for hours every day. Many moms like that need nannies or people who clean their houses. I'm realistic. I just want my kids to be happy and feel like I love them.

Tuesdays are packed so I feel like I have to choose between necessities, one of which is getting some exercise. I often wonder why so many moms "let go" of themselves. Well, not everyone is disciplined in the same way, and I'm certainly not disciplined with exercise. I can see how so many of us put ourselves last. It's so easy to forgo what one needs to make sure your loved ones are ok. Without Freddie here (physically and emotionally since we can't even talk!)I DO have the time to focus on myself even if I have to do everything else on my own. As I wondered when I should go work-out, I made sure that during the course of the day I had spent enough time with Mateo. I feel better about going to the gym knowing he was napping, but nevertheless I wondered if I do enough for him. I wonder if I'm not causing Chayla irreparable damage with my demands on her to be respectful, mindful, and studious. I decided to work out and when I got home I was in a great mood, received a package from Freddie and gave Chayla good news. Shortly thereafter I went to Mateo's crib and was greeted by a handsome boy who was unbothered with my workout.

Then I gave the kids the stuff Freddie sent them, read his AMAZING letters, and reflected upon a successful day, knowing I still had the rest of the evening to go! It's tough job, but someone has got to do it. They make it worth it:

Our lunch date at McDonalds (gasp!)


Goodies from France & Scotland:


That's right, a Spider-man comic book in French!

Da-da-da-da-da-Dora!

Another beautiful autumn day. I took Mateo to the park where I was forced to go down these narrow slides and swing from zip lines (well, I wasn't forced to do the zip line :) I did my best to wear him down for his afternoon nap but I was completely unsuccessful (I wore myself out). He spent the better part of an hour screaming in his crib. I finally put him in bed with me where we both fell asleep. I needed that nap to be able to make it through the day; I had planned to translate through the rest of the day. It's now after 10pm and haven't done a thing. Still trying to figure out how to get things done while Mateo's awake OR effectively ignore him.

Chayla worked on an essay about surfing. She writes better than many high school students I know. Then she spent the rest of her day on the Pueblo poster & map project. She's incredibly talented; she can draw better than most adults I know- including me!

For all his crying, Mateo showed me how much of a big boy he really is becoming. TWICE he obeyed my request to clean up the mess he made, the 2nd one being his room. I couldn't believe he actually listened to me AND that he put stuff away where it belongs. Hope this lasts. While I spoke to grandma, Mateo was watching Dora the Explorer. She normally starts off with questions for the kids, but my son never answers. He stares, open-mouthed, and jumps around later in the show. Today he actually conversed with her:

Dora: Hi! I'm Dora, what's your name?
Mateo: Mateo
Dora: How old are you?
Mateo: Two!

It doesn't sound like much, but it made his Mama proud.

Four days

I haven't written since Tuesday b/c I spent my evenings (the only time I have some peace) speaking to Freddie. Sadly, he left on Friday morning and will be incomunicato until end of Nov. I think this time it was a little more difficult for him to say goodbbye. While we miss him, this whole deployment is far harder on the person stuck in the sardine can underwater who cannot see the light of day.

On Yom Kippur I tried to rest. That didn't work. By the time I knew it was time to head to DC to see Alison and Izzy (in from NYC). We figured out that both our kids LOVE the Wonder Pets on Nick Jr. Mateo can sing a good chunk of the song, and Izzy knows all about teamwork! Here's a link to youtube with an adequate version of the opening to the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_a7lxnSeqk&feature=related
Mrs. Powers (Alison's mom)makes one mean baked ziti. Izzy loved it so much she made sure the sauce found its way to her nostrils and hair:



When Mateo and I got home that evening he was so excited to see Chayla. He said, "Chay-ya, I'm so happy to see you!" Then they embraced:



Today we had Coach Doug's wee-sports class. Mateo finally participated; he has one awesome throw. Sadly, he still has not warmed up to the Coach. He hides behind my legs or cries when Coach approaches us for some one-on-one instruction. The great thing about this class is that it wears him out so he goes down for his nap pretty easily. I still feel bad that Freddie isn't there to partake in these things with his son.

It was such a gorgeous day that I finally washed the cars, buffed the bumpers, and refilled some fluids. I rounded up the neighborhood kids and they "helped" me. It was more work to correct what they did than if I would've done it myself to start. Nonetheless, I promised them I'd hosed them down after they helped. They had so much fun pretending it was summer. We finished off our day with hot dogs, chips, and apples slices.

It seems impossible to get anything done during Mateo's waking hours. Do any of you moms have suggestions?

For Freddie

Freddie is in Scotland and will be able to see this blog from an internet cafe. I'm posting a few things I know he'll enjoy.

Despite being a serious and attached kid, he is enjoying school:
Mateo, the ladies man:
It was picture day at Mateo's Nursery School today. All morning I tried to make sure he was in a good mood for school. He was fine at breakfast (oatmeal is his favorite!): (Yes, those are the 43 presidents of the USA on his placemat...gotta start young).

I spent an hour trying to get him to cooperate with the photographer, to no avail. When I came back to pick him up his teacher declared he did take pics and she even got the class to take a picture together. Ms Kathy, the miracle worker. Here are pics of Mateo in his picture day clothes. I tried to tame those Puerto Rican curls.

Here's a pic of Ms. Chayla, who is growing up before my very eyes

Mateo in action:


I tried for 1/2 hour to post a video of Chayla dancing. I can't get it to work! Arrg!

Glasgow

While the economy crashes around us, a war rages on, and McCain pretends that Palin is smart and he is an agent of "change", I continue on in my own world. I'm involved, but these days it's from a distance. I'm just trying to make it until December when Freddie comes back. I imagine that's what so many military spouses HAVE to do - make it day by day.

But I have good news! Freddie called today! He ported in Scotland because something on the sub broke. We will be able to chat for the next 3 days but then he will be out of touch until end of Nov. I had hopes he'd be back at the end of this month, but the schedule has now changed. Looks like he'll return end of Nov/start of Dec. Hopefully Oct will fly by as quickly as Sept did.

My friends keep saying that this time apart must be hard for me. It's actually been a lot easier than I expected. It's nice to know that I am still a strong, capable indivdual. I'm surviving and thriving! Right now, I'm looking forward to the call from a sailor who has hit the town after not having a drink in a month (read as "eternity" in sailor talk).

Go, Diego, Go!

As I played with Mateo today he showed me a toy and asked me what it was. When I replied correctly with "Thor" he said, "Good job, Mami! High Five!" While I was preparing dinner, which involved taking out fish sticks from a box today, Mateo threw a ball at me and knocked down the fish sticks. He quickly apologized with, "oh, sorry mami. I hit your chicken. sorry." Finally, Mateo can now sing along with the opening song of Go, Diego, Go! This means he can say ONE word at the appropriate time in the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43c-c-3hn9M

Chayla put on some play clothes today and I had to do a double take; I thought they were new clothes. They were actually old clothes that she has recently grown out of. Apparently she grew over night. These pants used to be capri's.



Check out our inadvertent garden...those are tomatoes and watermelons!