9:22 a.m. - February 23, 2007
Katie - Prosecutor, Musician, Caller Out Of Poopy Heads
We had Katie�s parent / teacher conference at Montessori yesterday, and by all accounts it was quite positive.
She is a bubbly, well liked, happy child who loves to learn. She�s a self-starter and is motivated to learn. Yay!
The teacher really likes her personality and the way she handles herself. She�s confident, and sticks up for herself AND sticks up for her friends.
She�s also quite funny at times, and has a way with a funny line.
She is reading a little bit, and really loves books. We need to work on her reading skills before kindergarten next year. The teacher told us that our school system will go to all-day kindergarten, and there�s a chance that Katie may be in the accelerated program, but she needs to work on her reading skills.
(The drawback to all-day kindergarten is that she won�t have � day of Montessori, which has been SOOOO positive for her. And we�ll have a year without a child there, since Kristin is just a bit too young for it. Although, the way Kristin is progressing, she MAY be ready for it at 2 � provided she�s potty trained. Oh, please!)
But there are a couple of things, of course, that she needs to work on. I guess we ALL need to work on some stuff, don�t we?
Sometimes, she talks too much, especially when she�s amongst her friends. If she�s carrying on a conversation, and it�s time to get quiet, she wants to FINISH the conversation.
When there�s a crowd, and people watching her, she likes to put on a performance it seems. She really likes dance class and has always loved the recitals. At church, during the children�s sermon, she�s noticed that if she says something funny, she gets a reaction from the adults. So, if she has an audience, she may do something to call attention to herself.
And then, at times, she interrupts people when she has a point to make.
Tell us something that we don�t already know, teach. Sometimes, our family dinners can be the battle of who talks last and loudest. Many times, that�s Kristin by default, since I haven�t installed her remote volume control yet.
By all accounts, she gets along well with the other children and the teachers. She can be very polite, and has learned over the year to actually listen, at times.
So, Liz and I were wondering what this all means for Katie.
And it�s obvious.
She�s going to be Katherine � Prosecuting Attorney.
Think about it.
� She stands up for what she believes in.
� She stands up for her friends.
� She always wants the last word.
� She likes a �performance�.
� She wants to finish her points.
� She interrupts when she has a valid point.
� She thirsts for knowledge.
I can definitely see her in court. �OBJECTION, your honor! The counsel for the accused is a poopy-head!�
Now, I haven�t seen that legal argument on Law & Order but it must be in some case law, somewhere, that the counsel for the accused cannot be a poopy-head.
So, after the parent / teacher conference, I went back to work and Liz took the girls to the Children�s Museum in Indianapolis. (For those of you out of state, it is a great reason to come to Indianapolis. It may be the best museum for kids in the USA.)
When I returned home, I heard this noise.
It was kind of musical, but in a cheap whistle kind of way, and the notes weren�t sustained very well and kind of roaming all over the place.
I saw Liz, and she said that Katie used some money she saved up for a nice coloring book, and�
�a toy recorder.
Yes, it�s a blue plastic recorder that sounds like a cheap blue plastic recorder. And Katie was playing it for all it was worth.
You can imagine the racket.
I had to take it away from her at the dinner table. But as soon as she was excused, she grabbed it.
I told her she couldn�t play it in the bath, and couldn�t play it when her sister was trying to sleep. And she definitely couldn�t have it in bed.
Well, this morning, I stumbled downstairs and I heard it.
She was playing it for all it was worth, with 8th and 16th notes going hither and yon. It was like Coltrane, or Ayler, or Dolphy, or something like that. It was definitely �free jazz�, if that could be played on a cheap, blue, plastic recorder.
There were notes being hit left and right and up and down and sideways. She was �shredding� man.
And it gave me a headache.
It�s amazing, that I, a music lover, cannot really stand the sound of a cheap whistle-like toy played by a five-year old. Yet, I�m also happy that she�s really getting into it, even if it�s just a passing phase with a toy.
Perhaps I should save up for her guitar. Then we can teach Kristin drums, and the old man can learn the bass. Liz also knows guitar a bit.
We�d rock. And of course, there�d always be room for the recorder solo.
