WW: Writing Contest

This is a huge week for us. 

First of all my husband starts training for his new job. Go Dad! It will be an adjustment for sure. The boys will be at kid's club after school this week and next. Then they'll have before care and after care after that. Dad's work was a little lot more flexible before. This job will be more rewarding than his last job. I'm both nervous and excited.

Secondly we went to the University of Nebraska to see Mica accept his award for the Metropolitan Reading Council Writing Contest. Go Mica! The story was posted here.

Mica with his award medal and certificate. He got a book of all the stories that won - his included.

  
Brothers

Mica and I and Mica with Dad

 His Medal

It was pretty nice because the principle came from the school. His teacher must have forgotten, but the principle texted her, and she came in time to see Mica go up to accept his award.

The author and illustrator Bruce Arant who wrote Simpson's Sheep Won't Go to Sleep! came to talk. He talked about the process it took to get a book published, read the story, showed his comps, and did a drawing with the audience involved. He drew an animal body, and asked different kids to raise their hands to add different animal body parts to that. The boys enjoyed it. I got his book at the end. I gave it to Isaak because it's more his reading level. The author signed the book.

Children Should Speak Only When Spoken To - NOT

Do you really believe the title of this post? Please weigh in.

My kids talk A LOT. Do I tell them to zip it? Yes. Do I tell them, shhhhh? Yes. When I have a brain overload I just need it to be quiet. I usually just say tone it down please.

I have never told them, Children should speak only when spoken to.

I was talking to a co-worker about how my kids are huge eaters. That's all the conversation consisted of.  He does what he does, and started bringing up how children should be raised (in his opinion). 

He said, Kids need to learn to shut their mouths. They have no business talking to adults; unless adults talk to them. Children should speak only when spoken to. 

With this person I was talking to there's no arguing on what he says. It's as if his words trump anything and everything I could possibly say. I don't even try to get into deep conversations with him, but somehow they end up that way. I don't mind talking about deep things, but not with someone that shuts me out with everything I say. I think he could tell I didn't agree with him at all. I simply smiled, and walked away. It wasn't a happy smile. It was more of a smirk.

I do think it's funny that this guy gets calls from his kids all the time. His kids bring in his grandchildren during the day when we're not supposed to have kids at work during work hours. Guess what? His grandchildren talk without being talked to first. Do I have a problem with that? No. I could care less.

Why do I think kids should be free to talk?

• They are supposed to be quiet at school when the teacher is talking, so they can learn. At home they need a release. I don't know about you, but when I'm at work I'm much more serious then when I'm at home. I have to be goofy myself sometimes.

• Kids need to learn to stand up for themselves. If they are constantly told, Children should speak only when spoken to - then they feel as if they can't be a leader. This is a rough world we live in. Being a leader is an asset. We need strong leaders in this world.
   
  I'm not saying that kids should be disrespectful. My kids certainly are told that they need to wait to talk until the two people that are talking are done talking. It's not nice to interrupt. They shouldn't talk with food in their mouths.

• If kids don't feel like they can talk then bad things that happened to them won't be talked about. I don't want my kids to feel afraid to discuss their feelings. Boys in general do not discuss their feelings as freely as girls. Their feelings matter. I'm happy to listen to them. 
   
  Isaak in particular is really expressive. If I didn't listen to him, I think he'd feel repressed. Mica on the other hand lets things roll off his back. 

I won this book off of Sakura Haruka. It just has feeling words, and you discuss what those words mean with your kids. Then I ask them to share examples with me of a situation where felt what the word expresses.  Isaak loves this book!

• I don't know about you, but I learn things from my kids. They interject in conversations that we have, and we learn.
   
  Just this weekend we watched Space Camp. Mica said, "Hey there's Kate Capshaw. She's married to Steven Spielberg." I never knew that. I wonder if they fell in love on the set of Indiana Jones?
   
  

  

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  Then this morning we were talking about Bill Murry. We were listing off the movies he's been in. Mica said, "He was in Little Shop of Horrors." Dad was like, "No he wasn't." Mica said, "Ya he was the patient." He certainly was.

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These are just little things I can think of that I've learned from my kids. I've learned a lot more - than movie history. 

I'm not saying that kids should disrespect adults. They just should feel free to express themselves. Weigh in on conversations. They are people after all. Any more there are kids out there that are Inventors. One day they to will be adults. 

I want them to know their voice matters.

I want them to know that adults are safe to talk to.

I don't want them to be fearful of their feelings.

There is such a thing as freedom of speech. This should apply to everyone.

I want them to know they are the author of their own story.

Mica's Doodles

Mica swears that he doesn't like art. The boy is good at it though. Isaak gets jealous that Mica's doodles are better than his are. Isaak's creative, and a better maker than Mica is. Isaak can take a piece of paper, and transform it to be something interesting.

Here are some of Mica's cartoon inspired doodles:

Check out the wheels between his legs. That cracked all of us up!

A Squirrel

This one shoots something out of his hands. He's pretty muscular.

I'm not sure what this one is, but he can play an instrument.

This one is muscular to.

Sponge Bob With Muscles

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is all about me discovering something that is different. I don't want to post things that you and I have more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. It could be from another country, someone singing from the streets of NY, and more.

Rudely Interrupted is one of Australia's most celebrated bands. They are an independent rock group with 5 of the 6 members living with disabilities.  

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They turn their disabilities into abilities!

Close My Eyes

I Am Alive

This is an interview that tells you all about the band. Wow they are amazing!

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Random Tid Bits

1. It's been warmer outside, so I switched pjs. I was wearing flannel, and now I'm wearing thinner satin pjs. Isaak rubs my pant leg (not in a sexy way, just in a I like the feel of this fabric kind of way) and says every morning that I'm wearing them, "Mom I want a pair of these. They feel so nice." That kid is funny! 

It's too bad these pjs only go up to size 7. Isaak loves Superman, and they are boy pjs that are satin.




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2. Since the weather warmed up the boys have been playing outside, and have been going for long walks. The neighbors have been playing outside to. Isaak is much more of an outdoor kid than Mica is. One day Mica said, "Oh is Jack (neighbor) out there? He is. I've got to go out there to talk to him about Minecraft!" It was just this week that he became into Minecraft. I picked up Mica a Minecraft handbook at the library. I think he was in heaven. I thought it was last year's obsession among kids. My boys do tend to get into trends on the late end. They liked Angry Birds when that fad was dying down. Do you know anything about Minecraft? All I know is that it's a thing that kids like, and that they are boxy characters. Mica's been talking about Minecraft like crazy, but I sort of block it out.





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3. I was rubbing Dad's shoulders and he said, "That's too light. No guy likes to be rubbed soft." I said, "I went out with guys that liked that." Mica said, "WHAT? You went out with other guys besides Dad?" 


4. Dad's old boss decided he'd add to our account the money from vacation that he didn't use. Sounds great - right? He didn't tell Travis a thing. Typical of his ex-boss. Meaning - he doesn't communicate. All the sudden they both got a letter from the unemployment office saying something to the effect, You did not record your earnings last week. You will be penalized. You are still an employee at Larson Dental Lab...You failed... It was as if they want to audit him. That's yet another mess.


5. Two of our friends had us over for dinner. They're not used to our kids being there. They said, "They'll probably only eat one piece of pizza." Travis is like, "Ummm maybe 3 slices." Then the host's said, "They probably won't eat salad right?" I said, "They'll have salad. They love salad actually." They each ate 3 slices, salad, and had 2 full glasses of water. I'm thinking we have human pigs as children. They stay skinny though. I bet they won't want to have us back. LOL

Personalized Children's Book Review

I love books. Mica loves them to. Isaak likes to be read to, but he still working on the loving to read part.

KD Novelties makes personalized books, CDs and DVDs. They gave me a book of my choice that's a $13.95 value. They have free priority shipping with orders over $50. I picked Superman and Wonder Woman for Isaak. 

We're giving it to Isaak for his seventh birthday. Mica reviewed it and said, "Can I have one for my birthday?" A long time ago I got Mica a Sesame Street book through KD Novelties. He loves the personalization.

Mica thinks Superman and Wonder Woman is great. It has one of Isaak's favorite superheroes Superman, mixed with one of my favorites Wonder Woman.

Ordering:

The book is easy to order.

• You pick if you are giving it to a boy or a girl

• You add in the child's age

• It asks for their first, middle and last name

• You put in their hometown, and state

• You can add in up to 3 friends, or relatives

• You can write a dedication: Up to 75 characters

You end up with a hard cover 6 x 9 children's book. It has 24 pages full of colorful illustrations. Kids love that they are in the story!

Synopsis of the Story:

Your child is invited to the museums re-opening when it becomes a magical adventure when all the exhibits come alive! Your child helps Superman and Wonder Woman save the day by making Mxy the evil villain disappear.  - Source

The only thing Mica didn't like was how long Superman's hair is in the illustrations. He thought he looked funny with hair that long. Otherwise he loved the book!
 

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.