birthday parties

We attended our first birthday party today. Our first birthday party of Calvin's childhood years, the kind that, at this age, means both parent and child attendance. Twenty-four children and the adults that went with them, and Calvin was one of only two boys. The kids made cat ear headbands, then ran wild in the basement before consuming fruit, veggies, hotdogs, and cake as a prelude to present opening that took half the time it could have, and twice the time it should have.

Calvin said he had fun, and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the cat ear making, but it was clear to me after the first thirty minutes why we have yet to throw a party of this kind in our own home. In particular, something about the scads of presents that go largely unnoticed makes my stomach turn. Calvin told me in the car, and then Jon later, that his feelings had been hurt when the birthday girl had taken no notice of the gift he gave her. It opened the floor for a heart felt discussion about showing gratitude, and about doing our best for others but being our own best fans and not worrying about others' assessments of us. Still, it always breaks my heart when he is sad.

After we talked more about the party—Calvin liked the cake and loved the ears—we asked him what kind of party he thought he'd like to have for himself this year, a party with family, like we've had in the past, or a party with friends? "Definitely a friends party," he told us, and when asked what friends he would like to invite he replied "Oh, gram and grandpa, and Oma and Opa, of course, and Aunt Wendy and Uncle Jack. Just like our Easter party. That was a good party." 

As Calvin meets more kids in our community and makes more friends closer to his own age I know that answer will change. Maybe that will even happen this year. I'm actually looking forward to throwing a child's birthday party some day, a reasonable number of children playing games and creating take-home crafts and eating cake and ice cream, but for now I'll just enjoy the sheer adorable-ness of that answer and all that it means.

Celebrating spring

A wreath on the door...

Some decorations outside...

Dog torture

obligatory egg decorating

And a family party.

Teach your grandmother to suck lemons

Family tree and history

I was in search of videos on the Aztecs when I came across Legacy, a BBC television series about the great ancient civilizations hosted by Michael Wood. Bingo. Of course, it wasn't only about the Aztecs, and of course we wanted to see the whole thing, and thus in about fifty minutes the entire course of our current study changed. It was silly of me to think that starting at the very beginning of time in order to learn about American and United States history wouldn't also require learning about world history along the way, so we will be continuing from the nomadic hunter time period, about twenty thousand years after human migration into America, but instead of looking only at the nations of the Americas we will be looking everywhere. Simultaneous, holistic history. Plus there really is nothing more fascinating than ancient civilizations and the stories, myths, and inventions that came from them.

Looking at some of the resources I happened to have on hand, most recommended that we first learn about archeology and the study of history. Of course we've already been doing that, and Calvin's pretty comfortable with the concept of archeology, but we hadn't really talked yet about the fallibility of history, so we started today with the family tree. How does making a family highlight the fallible nature of history? Inadvertantly so. This was actually a really cool project that kind of grew and shaped itself over the day.

Calvin was all about making the tree. I figured we'd just cut some construction paper and glue together a tree starting with him and ending with his grandparents, but as he was gluing together said tree I was practicing the piano, and before I knew it the tree had grown to include five generations. We sat down and started naming the different people on the tree, but I couldn't go past Jon's grandparents on his side, and it became clear that a phone call would be necessary to finish the project. Calvin wanted to make the call himself, so we worked together to create interview sheets for each of the grandparents, and he used those to make the calls and get the information he needed. See how things take on a shape of their own?

And here's where it got especially interesting. My parents answered the interview questions from memory (because I'm the keeper of my family's genealogical records, but thought the phone call would be fun anyhow), while Jon's parents answered the questions from a written record they had on hand. Comparing Calvin's sheets following the phone interviews (my parent's was missing information) made clear the limitations of an oral tradition—sharing information kept in memory only—and we talked about the fallibility of information passed on from before the advent of common writing. In addition, after the phone interviews I pulled out my boxes of genealogy and unearthed birth and marriage certificates that we used to fill in the blanks on my parent's sheets, and to correct any information that had been related or recorded incorrectly—another point of comparison. It was a fascinating step in the project, and we spent an extra hour exploring the historic documents—both official, like certificates, and personal, like letters or articles—and antique pictures of which I am the keeper.

He finished his project by filling out the tree with names, birth dates and places, and family common names (i.e. he calls my mom "Gram", I called her mom "Grammie", and my mom called her mom's mom "Grandma", and so on)—a cconstruction paper study of our history which he aptly titled "tree of life".

And our study ever changing study of history is on its way again.

This post linked to Ordinary Life Magic's Saturday's Artist (one of my favorite mama blogs)

The Disney vacation

We're back, we're settled in. The laundry is mostly done, we've actually prepared and eaten two home-cooked meals, and Calvin has already finished two sections in math and thoroughly explored the Mayas. Obviously the last thing to return to normal is my journaling here. More on our exploration of the Mayas later.

First, a bit of trip closure. It was fabulous. We had sun every day (except the morning we drove to Vero, but who needs sun for driving?), and the unseasonably warm weather was pure joy. We stayed in a Disney resort and let the Disney crew take care of our every need: we were picked up from the airport, our luggage delivered directly to our rooms, and our meals were covered by a dining plan that we were able to cash in for some surprisingly nice meals in a lot of different places (they force you to eat the desserts). The resort had cafeteria style eating, and a bar by the pool, and the great Disney bus system got us to and from the parks every day. The place is like a city unto itself, with friendly staff (they refer to all workers as cast members), good food, clean grounds, and bright, open spaces (plus they know how to move the crowds through smoothly). When we left the parks we transferred (by rental car) to the Disney resort at Vero Beach, and things there were very much the same. There is no service quite like Disney service, and I can see why so many of my friends have mentioned taking frequent, even yearly, trips.

Plus Disney really does try to create that magic they promise in every ad. Calvin's favorite part was meeting the characters, riding the rides, and especially riding the Figment ride and Spaceship Earth. Jon's favorite part was the firework show at Magic Kingdom. Mom loved the Animal Kingdom African safari ride and the fireworks, and dad loved "the margarita ride" (i.e., drinks at Epcot's Mexico pavilion, plus beer in Germany, sparkling wine in Italy, and wine in France). My favorite part? Maybe everything, but I really loved that the cast members in the World Showcase were actually from those countries. Listening to them talk to each other in their native languages was really fun.

And the characters. There's just something about that mouse. You see? They've even got me doing it, because something else Disney does really well is create a sense of belonging and nostalgia in visitors. It makes people buy things, after all, like ears, or pins, stuffies, and shirts. We got away pretty easy on those counts (we've practiced immunity for years), but while Calvin had no attachment to any Disney character before we left (no real knowledge of any Disney character actually—even Pooh he knew most through Milne), while we were there he developed an admiration for several of the characters (the ones worn by humans), especially Figment and Mickey. Mostly Mickey. And how could he not? There really is something about that mouse.

Yes, it's obvious how infectious the Disney machine can be, and yes that's something I've always avoided, but I don't feel like our values were encroached upon in any way. Being at the park didn't force us to change the way we approach things, and our avoidance approach to pop-culture didn't at all get in the way of our enjoyment. And that character attachment? He fell in love with a live character he met on a magical trip, much like falling in love with a panda at the zoo (or a penguin), and I hope Calvin will always have this happy love for the two characters he met there—two happy memories, souvenirs from a really magical trip.

I'm a little in love with them myself. What a great, great trip.

Notes to self (or anyone else who might appreciate them):

1. Staying in the park in the Disney resort (and using their bus system) saved a lot of time.

2. The Disney photo cards are great. I assumed the photographers set up around every corner were offering to sell photos, but actually they give you a free photo card that you use everywhere in the parks, then you access your shots online (for free) and decide then if you want to buy anything. Great idea. PLUS, they were all more than happy to take a shot with my camera, too. Awesome!

3. The fast pass really did come in handy a couple of times (probably would even more so at a busier time), but for it to work really well you have to plan ahead.

4. Kidcot...I wish we'd known about it the first day we were there—it's a great way to get kids more involved in the World Showcase tour. At each of the eleven countries in the Showcase there is a table where kids can collect country stamps on a (free) bear picture that they color. Or, for $10 we bought Calvin a passport from a gift shop that cast members at each country stamped and wrote messages for him in their native languages. Then he spent much of dinner carefully placing the stickers (six for each country) on the appropriate pages. He's very attached to it.

5. The Kimpossible missions in Epcot were way more fun than I had anticipated.