Back on schedule...and...The Dr. Seuss Extravaganza

Back in January, Jesse hurt his hand and had to go to Urgent Care. It turned out he had a broken bone in his hand and a fracture in one of his fingers. He had to wear a cast for a while. It was a real challenge for him to do most things with one hand and learning to be more careful with his injured casted hand. And, for a while there, this interrupted a couple of things he had going on up until then: Gymnastics class and piano lessons. Both of those things were put on hold while his hand recovered. Recently, he had the cast removed, but he had to wait another week before he could go back to those things. (We did consider that he might continue piano lessons with one hand but Jesse didn’t like that idea.)

Finally, he was able to go back to gymnastics class and resume piano lessons. He did both of those things for the first time in over a month this week. So it looks like we’re back to the schedule that we were on before: Jesse with gymnastics class on one day then piano lessons on another day, and Jennifer still having her violin lesson each week but now also waiting patiently for her brother to finish his music lesson so that she could have hers. (We are trying to get Jennifer set up with a second activity – because I want my kids to be taking a music lesson as well as a physical activity – but haven’t got that set up just yet. She has definitely lost interest in sports.)

Jesse is glad to be back at his normal routines. I’ll have to get used to resuming that weekly schedule but I am also glad things are back to normal.

This week, Jesse’s school has been celebrating Dr. Seuss, with a themed day for every day of the week. Today was Silly Hat Day but also the Dr. Seuss Extravaganza. They have this “Dr. Seuss Week” every year during the week of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. I took Jesse to the Extravaganza this evening and here are the pictures I took from that event.

He had a lot of fun and it was nice to run into familiar faces. I was glad to be able to visit the Book Fair they were having at the event. We had a good time and glad we were there for such a fun event.

Dr. Seuss Extravaganza

This evening, I took Jesse to the Dr. Seuss Extravaganza that was being held at his school. For all of this week, his school has been celebrating “Dr. Seuss Week.” Theodor Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, was honored this week because his birthday was on Monday. There was a different theme for every day of the week (like “Silly sock day” and “wacky Wednesday”). The school does this every year during the week of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Jennifer had fun participating in those days and at the Extravaganza when she went to that school. Now it was Jesse’s turn. We didn’t go last year because I wasn’t feeling well but this year I was fine so we went. I was glad Jennifer came along with us. It was a chance for her to visit her old school and see some of her teachers from her elementary school years.

When we went this time with Jesse as the student this time around, I really didn’t know what to expect. When we’d gone before, when Jennifer was a student there, I remember pushing Jesse around in a stroller. Now he was on foot! And who knows what would happen?

The “on foot” thing was actually an issue. The kids kept disappearing! And when I found one, I’d lost the other one! So, at first, while Jesse was going from one activity to another, I was constantly keeping tabs on where both kids were. Jennifer didn’t really want to play the games, though she DID paint, because she was more interested in exploring and finding her old teachers. (We did see quite a few of them and she also said hi to the principal. They were all surprised at how much she’d changed!) Thankfully, though, I didn’t lose them. I managed to find both of them when one or the other went off my radar.

There were a lot of people at the event but it was not too packed. Also, it was not too “out of control,” either. People got into lines and the lines were managed okay and games/activities moved along smoothly. Well, that was until Thing 1 or Thing 2 made an appearance! Jennifer was amused to still see Thing 1 and Thing 2 at the Dr. Seuss Extravaganza. They were up to mischief, as usual, and just being silly. They were a hit and Jesse got excited to see them. He was also excited to see the Cat in the Hat.

After the games and activities, we visited the book fair then Jesse got his face painted. Then it was time for us to go home.

We had a lot of fun at the Dr. Seuss Extravaganza, I am so glad I was able to take Jesse this year and also glad that Jennifer came along, too. I think it was good for her to say hello to some of her old teachers and I know they were happy to see her. I look forward to going again next year. 

He was one cool cat with one cool hat

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. Jen's school is having a "Dr. Seuss" week and every day of this week has some kind of theme related to his books.

Today everyone came to school wearing pajamas. Even the teachers! I thought it was cool. I even took Jen to school AND walked her to her class in MY pajamas. Just so she wouldn't feel left out. ;)

The whole thing with the pajamas made me think about something I'd been mulling over yesterday. Yesterday, my husband spent the whole day in his PJ's. He didn't even shower. He was going to ENJOY his weekend, darn it! And while I silently applauded his determination to just be so laid back for ONE DAY out of his VERY hectic week, I kept wishing I could also spend the day in my jammies, without a shower and just watching TV.

Ah, to be young again. And not a mom.

See, when you ARE a mom, those days just DON'T happen anymore. Unless...you've broken your leg. Or the kids are spending the weekend at Grandma's house. Or they're away at camp. THEN you get to stay in your jammies all day. Watch TV. Order a pizza instead of cooking a meal. Read a book nonstop for hours....

...Hm. Now all of a sudden, I want to shuttle them off to my mom's! LOL Just kidding! :) All of that stuff IS a nice fantasy, but I already had my fun BEFORE I had my children. Those days are long past.

Still, the birthday boy's legacy doesn't mean my responsibilities as an adult have to be all "boring" and "hectic." In fact, the number one reason why I LOVE reading Dr. Seuss books so much is because, just once, I get to be a kid again. Just for a little bit. Whenever I read any of his books, I'm taken back to my childhood. I remember that childhood carefree innocence. And I remember watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" as a kid and reading those books as a kid.

And even ACTING like a kid when I read them even now.

In honor of his birthday, we read EIGHT of her Dr. Seuss' books. We read for a whole hour!! I LOVED singing as I read The Foot Book and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? Yes, I sang them. I mean, why not! They have a sort of tune if you read them a certain way! Jennifer loved that, too. And, you know, when she was a toddler, her favorite book was The Cat in the Hat. She'd ask me to reread it to her sooo many times.

Oh, and she read a WHOLE BOOK all by herself today! ALL! BY! HER! SELF!! Wow, what a nice birthday present to Theodor Seuss Geisel. And the VERY FIRST book she read all by herself was...Green Eggs and Ham. She kept commenting how silly Sam-I-Am was and she just kept laughing over lines like "Would you eat them in a box?" and "Would you eat them with a fox?" I was sooo proud of her but at the same time, I felt a little sad. My baby is growing up so fast. *sigh*

But I've got a feeling that, thanks to Dr. Seuss and his books, she, like a lot of us, will get to have some small part of herself remain a kid forever.