Tunes

Every night, Marta falls asleep to her music. It's the music box portion of the mobile she had on her crib as a newborn. She's fallen asleep to it pretty much every night of her life, with very few exceptions. Over time, the mobile has gotten chewed, in the way, or otherwise broken, and I finally took the entire thing apart and jimmied the music to work without the mobile - now it fits comfortably next to her pillow or in a backpack or whatever. When we went to Disney World, I packed it in a baggie with a note for airport security about what it was, its significance, and if it were found to be suspicious and confiscated, would they please let me know how I could get it back upon our return.

So every night after I tuck Marta in, and then tuck Berit in, I feel like leaving B's room is just too quiet. Berit, our major-music-lover, goes to sleep in a stone-cold quiet room, just like the rest of the world. Also, she wants a ton of books and never feels tired and calls out questions so maybe music would help me get some work done.

After making it seem like a big privilege to get this through extra chores, we brought down Trevor's old stereo for her room. Since then, our house hasn't been quiet once. She loads her six discs in order of how she wants to feel, when. So, bedtime is a series of lulling music with a little story thrown in at the end, just in case she's still awake. Morning is rousing Wiggles and Dora Fiesta. Afternoon is playful Gemini. When she's downstairs, she turns her music all the way up, so that she can hear it anywhere in the house. Every time she and Marta head upstairs, even when her music is still going from before, she changes the CD - for a new activity, of course.

All of this is to say that she has become her father. I like music as much as the next guy, but with kids and work and basset hound, you know what? I'd like a little peace and quiet, please. Trevor, on the other hand, cannot function without music playing. If there's no music on, he's humming or singing or making weird music-y noises, like beep-beep-whop-werp-bowwwwww! His music is too loud, too harsh, too emo, too nostalgic. And apparently, I'm too old.

I actually love sharing music with Trevor. When we first were dating he was doing a lot of open mics and I'd appropriately swoon at each show. Whenever people come over they say, "And the hits keep comin'," and "Geez, another great song!" Because Trevor has a playlist on (allthetime), and on that playlist is music from the 70s, 80s and 90s - all the stuff we grew up with, from all different genres. I frequently describe my husband (in a conversation about music or pretty much anything else) in this way: You know that feeling you get when you hear a song you LOVED at age 16? That's the feeling Trevor wants to have all the time.

And I think he does. When I'm not bugging him about turning the glory days music off.

Enter Berit. She's the kid who looks at a pile of dirt and tells you what's beautiful about it. As much as I tried to make her my classic firstborn child prodigy, she really just wants to dance and dress up. (Disclaimer for grandparents' sake: She's very smart. But she strives for rainbows covered in sprinkles covered in fairy dust covered in princesses.)

And so now we wait for the first mix. I wonder whether Trevor will be more proud of the first CD she self-compiles, or of her first straight-A report card. If I haven't gone batty by then from all of this noisewillsomebodygivemeamomentofpeace?, I'm sure I'll love either.

The Same Interview, Age 5

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Favorite vegetable: Celery

Favorite fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and grapes

Favorite drink: Juice and water and milk

Favorite cereal: All of them (Island Vanilla, Cinnamon Crunch, Honey and Nut)

Favorite books: Carols of Princesses, Rosie’s Walk, Madeline (all), While We Were Out,  Belinda the Ballerina, Fancy Nancy, Tiki Tiki Tembo, Listen, Buddy!

Favorite music: Princesses, Polka

Favorite color: Green

Best friend: Marta, Samantha, Peyton, Lyla and Ariana, Mom and Dad, Annie and Jemma

Favorite thing to do in the whole world: Go to the park and swing

Favorite place to go: Disney World and the carousel

What do you want to be when you grow up? Ballet teacher

What does your daddy do when he leaves the house? Go work. 

What does he do for work? He builds houses.

What does your mommy do when she leaves the house? Work.

What does she do for work? Writes.

Who is your favorite person to talk to on the phone? My mom and dad, grandma and grandpa.

What do you do to help your mommy and daddy? Clean up my room and clean up the playroom, every room.

What do you dream about? Sometimes I dream about me at the ball. 

What do you do at school? Learn.

Favorite TV show: Chloe’s Closet and Super Why, Gullah Gullah Island and Dino Dan

Favorite toy: Ellie the Yellow Elephant, Ana B., Blanket, Barbies

Favorite game: The Purple Party Game

Favorite restaurant: Big Boy

Favorite animal: Dinosaurs that are not alive, they just have bones.

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Princess Karisa (Ka-Ree-Sa)

What do you love about Daddy?  The way he plays with me. The way he dances with me.

Mommy: When we cook. When we dance with each other. When we feel funny. And when we have a race.

Marta: The way she shares. The way she plays with me. And I like to go swimming with her.

Mosey: When we snuggle with him. When we have races with him. 

Where would you like to go on vacation? To a very fun place. The museum.

What are some of your wishes? I wish I could fly. I wish I was a fairy. A little, tiny fairy. I wish it could change spring really fast, if I said, “I want spring to come here.” 

What do you want for your birthday: A new princess Disney World movie. A 7-year-old bike. A bike that goes really fast when you pedal, and you never fall off the bike when you go up hills. That bike is going to be so fun. 

This Is The Face Of A Reader

A few nights ago I promised the girls 15 books before bed. We settled down early in pjs and scrubbed faces. They each chose two and I surprised them with the rest. Marta handed me a library find by Blues Clues - not my ideal reading material, but it's theirs of the moment. In this book's text are pictures of a few familiar things, which urge kids to "read" them. Pictures of a familiar character or a carousel, for example, within the story line. This particular story line was about the whole Blues Clues gang at a fair.

So I let the kids take turns telling me the first few pictures on the first page while I read the text. Berit was up first on the second page, and she said, exasperated, "Mom, I can read all of it." And: she did. She read the whole damn book.

I remember the first book I ever read on my own. In fact, my mother kept it, and now I have it in storage. It's called "I Need," and is simple and small. As Berit read her own first book, through my significant pride and happy tears, I realized that I would need to buy this Blues Clues book from our library.

Berit was proud, and her impressing smile got bigger each time we turned a page. She knew then, too, the leap she had just made on her timeline of life. There is before reading and after reading. My girl's gone ahead and learned to read, all on her own. This is about to get very, very fun.

Just Words

I've recently been filling out kindergarten forms for Berit, and a teeny, tiny little voice in my mind has been nagging me about her reading skills. I haven't worked with her on reading outside of generally reading a lot of books and asking her to finish my sentences. I have a Hooked on Phonics set, and I thought that I might get that out and make it my mission to have her reading by the end of the summer.

When my sister-in-law was here with her family for the weekend, we talked about what her oldest daughter, age 6, is reading for fun. Ramona, Boxcar - she's a girl after both of our hearts, and I felt a little swell of excitement that Berit might read these titles soon enough. I mentioned my anxiety over B's lack of skill to my sister-in-law, a former elementary teacher, and she set my mind at ease. She gave me simple ideas to promote Berit's enjoyment and comprehension, but suggested I don't forge ahead with my summer mission. 

Then yesterday, after a friend was here for the evening, Berit disappeared for a few minutes and emerged with this note, composed entirely unaided:

"Dear Gigi I lovd plaen (playing) wit you Berit"

I think we're going to be OK.