random

Do you realize that next year, in 2010, Mother's Day in the US and Victory Day in Russia will be on the same day? How perfect is that?

Did you hear that Madonna is coming to play a concert in Palace Square in St. Petersburg? Russian officials have declared it a "natural disaster".

shoe trickery

I admit it. I over-imbue inanimate objects with personality. A bit of this might be charming or poetical...but I think I've gone too far.

I'm not just talking about picking up a big piece of lint that the vacuum won't suck up and then putting it down again to give it another chance. I don't mean asking the cat (not that she's inanimate...) where I've left my sunglasses. I'm talking about shoes.

I have two, TWO, pairs of sandals that give me blisters. One is a pair of birks and the other is a perfect pair of sandals--a little bit of a platform, dark enough brown that they can pass for black... But both of these give me blisters.

And I keep giving them another chance. Or maybe I'm giving my feet another chance. I just want them to get along.

Not only that, I start thinking that I'll trick them (the shoes and my feet) by not wearing the shoes for a long time. I start thinking that they'll forget about blisters. I put the shoes on and walk around a bit. Everything seems fine! No blisters. No rubbing. No soreness. I don't need band-aids or moleskin. My plan has worked!

Then, about a half-mile later, it starts--soreness, rubbing, blisters. The band-aids fall off and the moleskin is useless. Those sandals and my feet really do have irreconcilable differences.

Do you know HOW many times this scenario has repeated itself? Too many. But, no more. After limping home from the post office, I've decided that's it. No more chances. I have decided to banish both pairs.

Sniff.

I hope they forgive me.

(I wrote this for you yesterday...just in case I don't get in to school to use the computer today. Except for me it's today and you're reading this tomorrow.)

mini bite, 2

I'm not sure about the new X-Files movie. (Thanks, M, for the heads up! I know nothing about pop culture living here.)

I went and watched the preview. Hm. (with only one "m") Almost a "huh" without a question mark.

Chris Carter said somewhere (no footnotes, remember?) that the X-files was always a romance; that the rare, intellectual romance between Mulder and Scully was what appealed most to the fans. I would agree. Love it.

But, I also liked them riding off into the sunset together at the end of the series. (Let's not get into a discussion about that last season right now, okay? I'm still sick.) Because, let's face it, a girl's not all intellect.

And the trailer made it look like they've been in separate sunsets.

Unless that was a trick.

And it could be.

But I don't really want to go and see that they fought and split up after a year. Or have been living separate lives for the safety of their child. Or whatever.

Of course, that's only the writer's opinion.

And what do they know?

Not as much as me.

For example, I know Scarlett got Rhett back. (And don't even mention that pseudo-sequel that I refused to read. Rubbish. Leave it alone. It didn't have to be written. We knew.)

But I have to see this movie. I might even go see it in Russian. Maybe. If I can find it. Maybe it will even be in English with Russian subtitles!

So, if those writers mess things up and say that Mulder and Scully split up, I can just ignore the writers and concentrate on what I know is the truth.

After all, the truth is out there, and 24 July is another day.

mini bite

Have you noticed when you have a fever that your thoughts seem to come in isolated chunks? They don't connect to anything that came before. And, try as you might, forging a link to the next logical thought is nearly impossible. It's as if you're pushing with all your might against an immovable object. You just can't push through.

I guess that gives me blog posts in mini-bites. They won't be tidy posts, cleverly tied back to the beginning. They're just...random.

I won't post them all together the way they are in my head. That would be way too confusing. So, I'll just give you a little mini-bite here and there...

Lauri posted awhile back (okay, so there was a before to this) about the recent discipline episode of J&K+8. While I do think J&K do much right, I think they're missing a big step. No, I'm not a parent. But, I have much experience disciplining children. I'll go ahead and brag a bit here and let you know that all our "special" teachers always rave about how well-behaved my classes are--regardless of school or grade. Sure, they're a little noisy. But they're kind, creative, respectful, responsible and obedient. I think that makes my observations share-worthy. Besides, it's my blog. ;>

In J&K+8, they talked about how important it is to have a child apologize after there has been misbehaviour. I completely agree. An apology should be made to the person who was wronged.

What I think J&K (and many others) are missing is the forgiveness part. Not only does the offender need to apologize, the wronged party needs to forgive them. And, once forgiveness is offered, the event is over. Finished. We keep no record of wrongs. When I mess up, I apologize and ask the children to forgive me. (They get very tickled at this. They love to tell me they forgive me.)

I work hard to make sure that there is no stigma to apologizing. An apology does not have to be an admission of guilt. It doesn't have to mean that your actions were intended to be hurtful. But, when you have hurt some one with your words or your actions, even if it was unintentional, you should express regret for that hurt and apologize.

And when someone apologizes, you accept it graciously and forgive them. And then you shake hands or hug and move forward as friends.

That's one thought rattling around in my brian. I think that the reconciliation process is incomplete without forgiveness being offered. And, I think without offering forgiveness, one is more likely to cherish up those wrongs. That would be harmful to our sense of community in the classroom.

By this point in the year, instead of bringing an offense to my attention and having me walk them through the

what-did-you-do/what-did-you-do/how-do-you-feel/is-that-what-you-meant/
did-you-say-that/are-you-sorry/did-you-say-that/do-you-forgive-her/
did-you-tell-her/is-it-over/shake-hands-and-be-friends-or-will-you hug

my students will tell me, "Such and such happened, but don't worry. We already got to the hugging and everything." I consider it a lesson well-taught when they can do that on their own.